A team of 80 military personnel will also travel to Senegal next month to train AU soldiers in their use and maintenance.

The 100 Grizzly and five Husky armoured vehicles will be ready to be deployed by mid-September and used by AU troops from Nigeria, Rwanda and Senegal.

"This armoured vehicle loan is an important part of Canadas assistance to the African Union Mission in Sudan," said Defence Minister Bill Graham. "It will provide the AU with some of the key tools they need to safely and effectively conduct peace support operations in the troubled Darfur region."

The vehicles are part of a 170 million dollar (137 million US dollar) aid package announced by Prime Minister Paul Martin in May.

The AU mission in Darfur began a year ago and is expected to double its contigent to 7,700 soldiers by September.

Between 180,000 and 300,000 people have died in the region since the beginning of 2003, as rebels and government forces, along with proxy militia, stepped up their offensives, according to UN estimates. More than two million people have been displaced.

Ottawa had already committed up to 31 soldiers to join a UN mission in southern Sudan to monitor a peace accord signed in January, after years of conflict between the government and ex-rebel separatists.

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