Egypt offers UN 750 troops to help Darfur crisis

Egypt's foreign minister offered Friday to send 750 troops and 130 military supervisors in the next phase of UN troops to be sent to Sudan's troubled Darfur region, a foreign ministry statement said. The soldiers would be part of a 3,000-strong UN force that is scheduled to reinforce the 7,000 AU troops already in the region. The statement by Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that Egypt's ministry of defense had made the offer to the United Nations and expected them to accept what he described as "big cooperation." Egypt, which has traditionally had good relations with neighboring Sudan, already has a small military force with the African Union in Darfur.