Darfur conflict, peace efforts

DARFUR: Eighteen African Union soldiers were killed or injured and 40 were missing after a deliberate and sustained assault on the Haskanita base in Darfur on Saturday night by armed men in 30 vehicles, who looted and destroyed the base, the AU said.   

Here is a chronology of some major events in the conflict in western Sudan:   

February 2003 - Two rebel groups rise up, saying government neglects arid region and arms Arab militia against civilians.  

 April 2, 2004 - United Nations says Darfur has become one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.   

April 8 - Government, Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels agree 45-day ceasefire. They later agree to foreign ceasefire monitors from the African Union (AU) and European Union.   

May 5, 2006 - Sudan's government and SLA sign new peace deal. Rival SLA faction and the smaller JEM reject the deal.   

Aug. 17 - Britain and the United States introduce a Security Council resolution to send U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur. Sudan's ruling party rejects the draft resolution a week later.   

Aug. 31 - U.N. Security Council votes to create a U.N. peacekeeping force of 26,000 U.N. troops and police in Darfur, but Sudan rejects the idea of foreign troops in its vast west.   

Jan. 10, 2007 - Sudan and Darfur rebels agree to a 60-day ceasefire and a peace summit sponsored by the AU and United Nations as steps towards stopping the violence.   

Feb 27 - International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor names first two war crimes suspects in Darfur. Sudan says the ICC has no jurisdiction and later rejects arrest warrants.   

April 2 - Unidentified gunmen kill five AU peacekeepers in Darfur, the deadliest single attack on the force since 2004. African Union says the help of U.N. troops is needed.   

April 18 - United States and Britain threaten Sudan with sanctions and other punitive measures unless it agrees to accept a robust U.N. peacekeeping force.   

May 29 - U.S. President George W. Bush imposes new U.S. sanctions on Sudan and asks for support for an international arms embargo to end what he calls genocide in Darfur.   

June 12 - The AU says Sudan has agreed to the deployment, mandate and structure of combined U.N. and AU peacekeeping force.   

Aug 1 - The U.N. Security Council authorizes 26,000 troops and police for Darfur's hybrid mission and approves the use of force to protect civilians.   

Aug 6 - Darfur rebel groups agree on ;a common platform; for peace talks, encompassing power- and wealth-sharing, security, land and humanitarian issues, a top U.N. envoy said.   

Aug 20 - Leaders of five Darfur rebel groups form United Front for Liberation and Development.   

Sept 6 - Sudan and Darfur rebels agree to talk on Oct. 27 in Libya in push for peace ahead of the expected deployment of a 26,000-strong peace force.   

Sept 29 - Ten AU soldiers are killed and dozens missing after armed men launched an assault on the AU's Haskanita in southeast Darfur. The base was destroyed.