A joint UN-African force has taken over peacekeeping duties in war-torn Darfur, a long awaited step that is intended to be the strongest effort yet to solve the problem.
But many are already warning that its prospects are grim, and that if it fails, the conflict will only worsen.
The force - at 9,000 soldiers and policemen - is only a little larger than the beleaguered and ineffectual African Union peacekeeping mission it replaces. Even in a best case scenario, it will take months to build up to its planned strength of 26,000.
Western nations have not come through with equipment like military helicopters and vehicles the UN says are vital for the new force to reach hotspots quickly and protect civilians.
Monday's handover ceremony at the new mission's still unfinished headquarters outside El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state, was low key.
The AU force's military commander, General Martin Agwai, took off his green African Union beret and donned one with the blue UN colors, becoming the commander of the new force, known as UNAMID. The troops on hand for the ceremony - most of them from the previous AU force - did the same.
"We are determined to deploy the most robust force possible," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement to the ceremony read by UNAMID's top chief Rodolphe Adada. "If we are to have a real impact on the situation on the ground within the first half of 2008, these deployments must happen far more swiftly than they have done so far."
Ban chided nations for not pledging aircraft and ground transport. He also said he expects the Sudanese government to "work constructively with the UN and AU."
The Darfur conflict has pitted ethnic African rebels against the military of the Arab-dominated Khartoum government. Arab militias allied to the government, known as janjaweed, are accused of a campaign of killings against ethnic African civilians, attacking villages and raping women.
The fighting has only grown more complicated over the past year, with rebel groups splintering. Since a deadly rebel attack on an AU base in November, the under-equipped AU troops have largely stayed in their camps, all but giving up on most basic peacekeeping missions, such as protecting women from being raped by janjaweed when they trek out to collect firewood.
Attacks on international aid workers increased 150 percent over 2007, and violence has made large areas inaccessible to humanitarian relief, according to the UN.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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