Jan 29 (Reuters) - An African Union summit opened on Monday with the stage set for a battle over Sudan's determination to assume the chair, as promised a year ago, despite fierce criticism of continuing bloodshed in its Darfur region. Here are some key facts on the controversy surrounding the Sudanese bid to chair the AU: A HISTORY OF CONFLICTS IN SUDAN: NORTH-SOUTH: 1983 - The government, dominated by northern Arabs, adopts aspects of Islamic sharia law and, later, martial law. Relations with the mostly animist and Christian south deteriorate. 1983 - John Garang launches southern rebellion and assumes leadership of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and its political wing, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). Jan. 9, 2005 - Garang and the chief government negotiator sign a peace accord ending 21-year civil war that killed an estimated 2 million people, mainly through disease and hunger. July 9, 2005 - Garang sworn in as Sudan's first vice-president. The deal gave southerners the right to vote over secession after a six-year interim period and share oil revenues. Garang was killed in a helicopter crash three weeks later. The next month Salva Kiir, last surviving founding member of the SPLM, was sworn in as first vice-president. DARFUR: Feb. 2003 - Rebels rise up against the government saying Khartoum discriminates against non-Arab farmers in Darfur. U.N. officials says Khartoum mobilised proxy Arab militia, known locally as Janjaweed, to quell the revolt. More than 2 million Darfuris, mainly subsistence farmers from a variety of tribes and ethnic groups, flee their homes for refugee camps in Sudan and across the border to Chad. The United Nations called Darfur one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. April 2004 - A ceasefire is agreed in Darfur and the African Union eventually sends nearly 7,000 peacekeepers with a mandate to monitor the peace and protect those displaced in the camps. The ceasefire has been violated frequently, with fighting blamed on government troops, rebels and Janjaweed militias. Aug 2006 - The U.N Security Council adopted a resolution on deploying a 22,500-strong peacekeeping force in Darfur to replace and absorb African Union forces who have been unable to stem the violence in western Sudan. It invited the consent of Sudan, which has refused so far to allow the U.N. to take over peacekeeping duties in Darfur. CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING AU CHAIRMANSHIP * The prospect of a Sudan AU chairmanship has horrified Khartoum's many critics who see it as one of the worst possible ambassadors for Africa and the AU, which was set up in 2002 to promote democracy, human rights and development across Africa. * The AU chairmanship would put Sudan at the head of the organisation which already has 7,000 AU troops struggling to stem the violence. AU troops in Sudan's vast west were given the task of protecting civilians from attacks. -- Experts estimate 200,000 have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes in four years of fighting in Darfur. * The Sudanese government, which the United States says has carried out genocide in Darfur, boosted its prestige by hosting the 2006 AU summit. Khartoum denied the genocide accusations. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating war crimes committed in Darfur.
