The United Nations on Monday got its first pledges of troops for a proposed UN peacekeeping force in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, officials said.

At a meeting of 49 potential contributing nations, Norway offered 250 logistics experts, Sweden pledged a battalion of engineers, and Tanzania, Nigeria and Bangladesh volunteered infantry soldiers, officials at the closed-door meeting said.

But the UN force, approved by the UN Security Council, is still on paper only, with its goal of a 20,000-strong force to be deployed in Darfur.

Sudan has strongly objected to the UN taking over from a African Union force currently in the western Sudanese region.

The African Union force of some 7,000 soldiers and monitors has agreed to stay until the end of the year to help stop conflicts in Darfur.

The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003 when anti-government forces accused the government of marginalizing the region and took up arms against it.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict and up to 2.5 million others displaced as a result of the turmoil.

Source: Xinhua