Dec 7 (Reuters) - European and African parliament members and human rights groups told leaders on Friday they would be ignoring the plight of thousands of civilians if they failed to tackle Sudan's Darfur crisis at an EU-Africa summit. The rights groups said failure to act on Darfur would mean turning "our back on the people of Darfur", where an estimated 200,000 people have died of disease, hunger or as a result of violence. Here are some facts about the conflict in the Darfur region. * THE CONFLICT: -- Rebels in Sudan's western Darfur region took up arms against the government in February 2003, saying Khartoum discriminated against non-Arab farmers and neglected the region. -- Khartoum mobilized proxy Arab militia to help quell the revolt. Some militiamen, known locally as Janjaweed, pillaged and burned villages and killed civilians. The government has called the Janjaweed outlaws and denied supporting them. -- Experts have estimated at least 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million driven from their homes in the region since early 2003, some crossing the border into Chad, exacerbating a refugee crisis there. Sudan says 9,000 people have died. -- The United Nations calls Darfur one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The United States says the violence in Darfur amounts to genocide. * CEASEFIRE AND TALKS: -- A ceasefire was agreed in Darfur in April 2004. The African Union sent 7,000 peacekeepers with a mandate to monitor the peace and protect those displaced in the camps. Since then, the ceasefire has been violated repeatedly. -- A peace deal in May 2006 was signed by only one of three rebel negotiating factions. It was almost immediately rejected by many in Darfur who said it did not go far enough to ensure their security. Rebels have since splintered into a dozen factions, deepening the crisis. -- A new first round of peace talks started in the Libyan city of Sirte in October, but quickly fizzled out when the major rebel groups decided to boycott them. -- Many rebel factions have been carrying out their own meeting in south Sudan's capital Juba to try to hammer out a common position. But so far, only a handful of smaller groups have agreed to unite under one banner. * PEACEKEEPING FORCE FOR DARFUR: -- The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution on July 31 for a new operation known as UNAMID, the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur. -- It authorized, for an initial period of 12 months, up to 19,555 military personnel and 6,432 international police. UNAMID will absorb the 7,000 African Union troops currently in Darfur. It is expected to cost more than $2 billion in the first year. -- The mission will operate under a "Chapter 7" mandate on the use of force. This allows it to use force to protect itself and to ensure freedom of movement for its personnel and aid workers. Force could also be used to protect civilians. -- The civilian head of the operation is Rodolphe Adada, former foreign minister of the Congo Republic. The force commander is Gen. Martin Agwai of Nigeria. -- U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno has cast doubt on the mission due to restrictions imposed by Khartoum on its movements and Sudan's refusal to accept non-African troops. -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a failure by countries to supply transport and attack helicopters had put the Darfur mission at risk. (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)
