(DUBLIN) - Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern begins a visit to Chad and Sudan Wednesday ahead of the deployment of Irish troops in the region, his office said.

Ahern will hold talks with the Sudanese government in Khartoum Wednesday where he is expected to announce increased funding for the Darfur peace process, his office said Tuesday.

Ireland is to provide 500,000 euros (729,000 dollars) to support peace talks on the future of the war-torn Sudanese region, which are due to resume in Libya in early December.

"The current Darfur peace process being mediated by the UN and African Union is absolutely vital for the prospects of securing lasting peace and security in the region," Ahern said in a statement.

"Without a stable and peaceful environment the current humanitarian crisis will continue."

Ahern said he will raise the need for all parties to the conflict "to commit to an immediate cessation of hostilities, full participation in the current peace talks and support for successful deployment" of a joint AU-UN force in Darfur.

On Thursday he will meet Chadian leaders in the capital, N'Djamena, before being briefed by UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs working on the ground.

The Irish troops' mission, which is subject to government and parliamentary approval, will be part of an EU military operation which will shortly be deployed to eastern Chad and north-eastern Central African Republic.

The force, involving about 4,300 troops, will be under the operational command of Ireland's Lieutenant General Pat Nash.

Ahern will travel to eastern Chad, which borders Darfur, on Friday to see at first hand refugee camps which will be protected by the EU force.

He described the force as a "vital and challenging EU mission" that will increase security for the hundreds of thousands of people in eastern Chad displaced by the regional crisis.

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