Strong words again today by Mr. Kingibe from the African Union:

Baba Gana Kingibe, leader of an AU team monitoring a shaky ceasefire, told reporters he had confidence in an AU report that all parties to the conflict were breaking the truce and that the violence had included attacks by government helicopter gunships.

"The report we received from the field said helicopter gunships were observed overhead in two different locations in Darfur," Kingibe told reporters at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. "We have films and pictures. We do not make a statement of that nature, grave as they are, without evidence. If necessary we are ready to show them," he said.

"I do hope the (AU) Peace and Security Council would express total disgust over the very serious situation which is taking place in Darfur, whenever they convene," he added.

Here's hoping the African Union forces on the ground translate these words into stronger action and actually help the people looking to them for protection- like the ones desperately re-arranging their little shelters around the AU compounds in places like Tawila, hoping this proximity to the international peacekeepers may help them escape yet another round of indiscrimate fire at the hands of government soldiers.

Oh, and please send those armoured vehicles already. They're long overdue.

Tags: Sudan, Darfur, aid worker, African Union