By Opheera McDoom
KRINDING CAMP, Sudan (Reuters) - The soothing tones of WestIndian reggae stopped abruptly and the U.N.-African Unionpeacekeepers left their vehicles to face a machine gun pointedat them by a Sudanese soldier crouched in a trench.
But as more white peacekeeping vehicles emerged from thedarkness at the army checkpoint outside West Darfur's capitalel-Geneina the Sudanese soldiers, heads wrapped in cloth toshield them from the harsh sandy wind, broke into smiles andfriendly greetings.
The "hybrids", as the new United Nations-AU force of 9,000is called in Darfur, were on night patrol -- an initiative bythe peacekeepers' newly energised leadership which some countas their first success.
The patrols began after U.N.-AU troops, known as UNAMID,took over peacekeeping in Darfur from AU forces on December 31.They were designed to tackle one of the most entrenchedproblems in Sudan's violent west.
Armed men had roamed the camps at night with near impunitywhile thousands of displaced Darfuris cowered in the dark, tooafraid to talk for fear they would be discovered by the gangswho have raped, murdered and pillaged their way through thecivilian population for five years.
"We are always hearing shooting and men come in and attackus," said Youssef Abdel Rahman, a leader at the Krinding Campoutside el-Geneina town.
But in the few weeks since the hybrid forces began regularnight patrols around the camp, there has not been a single livefire incident and U.N.-AU troops do not generally encounterarmed men, who locals call Janjaweed, along the way.
"If you're a criminal you don't stick around to talk," saidNigerian A.A. Adeyemo, a UNAMID patrol leader.
Abdel Rahman said the sound of gunfire left with them.
"Now it's not there anymore. That improvement has beensince the UNAMID has come. ... Now we can sleep better," headded.
HUGE EXPECTATIONS
The 2.5 million Darfuris driven from their homes sincemostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 have hugeexpectations that the joint U.N.-AU force will protect themfrom attacks in a way 7,000 AU forces were not able to alone.
The AU had lacked the manpower and equipment to protectcivilians caught in the crossfire of the conflict pitting therebels against the government and feared Janjaweed militias,and which has grown worse over the years as splinter groupsturned into opportunistic bandits.
It has not been an easy road for the U.N.-AU mission sofar. Pledges for equipment and troops have been slow in coming-- at the moment only about 9,000 of an expected force of26,000 is on the ground in Darfur.
The government in Khartoum has been accused of imposingdifficult restrictions on UNAMID.
It had been reluctant to allow the night patrols and morethan once, nervous Sudanese at army check points have almostopened fire on the peacekeepers mistaking them for rebels inthe most militarily active part of Darfur, officers said.
Adeyemo said the first time UNAMID went out they took twoArmoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) for high security and alsobecause they made so much noise the Sudanese army would knowwho was coming and not open fire.
But while the patrols have their tense moments, there isalso time for relaxation. Soldiers in one vehicle played reggaeand brought bread and other food to Darfuris in the campssurviving on U.N. rations like wheat, sugar and oil.
"OUR BROTHERS"
Driving through the deep sandy tracks two vehicles gotstuck in a dry river bed and an APC had to drag them out.Meanwhile men on horseback and a jeep full of heavily armed menin mufti raced past.
"We love you so much for having come -- you are ourbrothers," said Mohamed Abakr, a Darfuri who came to talk tothe soldiers as they pushed their vehicle out of the sand.
The drivers know their way well, picking along through theshrub-covered terrain in the pitch black, stopping at armycheckpoints and surprising men hanging around in the streets.
They even know which tiny clay hut down which narrow alleyhouses the local leaders who wake up to greet the soldiers.
"The hybrid coming to see us at night is very good," saidIsmail Ali, a senior tribal leader of Ardamata Camp outsideel-Geneina.
"There are not many problems as there were before. It'sgoing well now."
But he said with concern, the 9,000 troops were not enoughto protect Darfuris so they could go back to the villages andfarms they left during the years of fighting.
"Nine-thousand is too little," he said. "Here we have 9,000Janjaweed and until now the government is still arming them.... These Janjaweed are roaming around outside like grains ofsand - there are so many."
(Editing by Mary Gabriel)
