ADDIS ABABA, July 1 (Xinhuanet) -- African Union Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare will join world mediators tasked with solving crisis in the Sudan's western region of Darfur, a senior AU official told Xinhua Thursday.

    The official said that Konare is to visit Chadian capital N'djamena and meet the Sudanese parties participating in the negotiations on Friday.

    He will return to the AU annual meetings currently underway in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa afterwards.

    Konare said Wednesday in the AU meeting that the AU backs the Sudanese government's efforts to solve the Darfur crisis, urging Khartoum to disarm pro-government Arab militia accused by rights groups of conducting a scorched earth policy and committing "ethnic cleansing" in Darfur.

    According to reports, more than 10,000 people have died in Darfur and more than a million have been driven from their homes since the revolt against the Khartoum government broke out in February 2003, described by the United Nations as the world's worst current humanitarian crisis.

    The international community has been trying to solve the crisis,with all Sudanese parties involved in the Darfur problem to sit down Friday in N'djamena. Enditem