Brown in Darfur peacekeeping vow

Thousands of African Union troops are already in Darfur

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants Darfur's proposed peacekeeping force to be in place by the end of the year, he has told the BBC.

Mr Brown pledged technical help for the UN-African Union force and warned of further sanctions if fighting in Sudan's strife-torn region continues.

Some 200,000 people have been killed and 2m displaced in Darfur since 2003.

Rights groups have declared Sunday a Global Day for Darfur with events planned in 30 nations around the world.

Campaigners from groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Save Darfur Coalition plan to wear blindfolds in an appeal to world leaders not to look away from the continuing violence in Darfur.

The government in Khartoum and Arab militias allied to it have been blamed for massacres of the Darfur's black African population since 2003 - charges the government denies.

Ceasefire plea

In an interview with the BBC World Service, Mr Brown called the conflict "one of the great tragedies of our time".

MAJOR DARFUR RALLIES London: March from Sudan embassy to Downing St San Francisco: Film screening and interfaith prayer New York: Rally and speeches outside UN HQ Ottawa (Mon 17th): Blindfold wearing and human chain outside Canada's parliament France: Events in at least 18 cities Accra, Ghana: Blindfolds and people chain Source: Globe for Darfur Quick guide: Darfur

Analysts say Mr Brown's timetable for a peacekeeping force is ambitious, given that Sudan's Arab government has been reluctant to accept the involvement of non-African troops.

Government forces and their allies continue to fight local rebels, but Mr Brown said it would "disastrous" if the fighting did not stop.

"This is an attempt... to bring the [UN] resolution, the ceasefire, political settlement, all these things coming together," he said.

"If that were to happen, we'd be prepared to give economic assistance so that the people of Darfur were in a better position and we can start to rebuild.

"If it doesn't work and we find that the government of Sudan is not making the changes necessary, then we will have to move to further sanctions."

He said the government should agree a ceasefire with the rebels to allow the peacekeepers to deploy.

On a visit to Rome this week, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir said he was willing to sign a peace deal with rebel groups.

Gordon Brown threatened a move to further sanctions on Sudan

Although the UK will not be contributing troops to the peacekeeping force, Mr Brown pledged to give "technical help", understood to mean airlifting African personnel into the region.

BBC world affairs correspondent Mark Doyle says the UK leader's comments reflect Western impatience with the Khartoum government.

The Arab administration, consistently hostile to the involvement of non-African troops, agreed to a hybrid peacekeeping force including some UN peacekeepers only after months of negotiations.

Commentators have accused Khartoum of deliberately blocking attempts to mediate the conflict.

The force will be made up of about 20,000 soldiers and 6,000 police officers.

Thousands of African Union peacekeepers are already in the region, the rest are due to begin arriving next month.