The AU mediated a peace agreement between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels in May 2006 but only one of three rebel negotiating factions signed the deal. Since then, rebels have split into a dozen factions.
The violence, which includes militias and tribal conflicts, has severely curtailed the world's largest aid operation.
The AU has long complained of a lack of equipment, including attack helicopters and rapid response vehicles. They have also said their force was too small to contain the conflict in the vast and arid region.
"I don't know how they want us to do it without the facilities," Agwai said, adding driving normally it would take 4-1/2 hours to reinforce Haskanita and under attack, an entire day.
"We are just 5,000 plus military men scattered in an area as big as France with no roads," he added.
Agwai will command the joint U.N.-AU peacekeeping force of 26,000 troops and police due to absorb the AU mission and remedy the chaotic security situation in Darfur.
SECURE THE AREA
International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in Darfur, with 2.5 million driven from their homes as mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of neglect. Khartoum mobilised mainly Arab militias to quell the revolt.
Emphasising the AU's inability to deal with such an attack, it asked for Khartoum's help to secure the area and evacuate personnel using Sudan Armed Forces planes, the army said.
"We offered all the help we could. We have secured the area and moved the injured," a SAF spokesman said.
The attack is likely to overshadow AU-U.N.-mediated talks due to begin in Libya on Oct. 27. Mediators Salim Ahmed Salim and Jan Eliasson expressed "shock and dismay" at the attack.
"The Special Envoys urge all parties to the conflict to demonstrate a serious commitment to the peace process and to cease hostilities," they said in a statement.
The attack preceded a visit of "elders" to Sudan, including South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, ex-U.S. President Jimmy Carter, veteran peace mediator Lakhdar Brahimi and womens and children's rights advocate Graca Machel.
On Monday they are due to meet Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The trip to Darfur and southern Sudan is the group's first public mission since its inception this year.
