Five African nations pledged on Aug. 2 to send peacekeepers to a mission in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region that was approved this week by the U.N. Security Council, a top African Union (AU) official said.
Said Djinnit, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, said member states had responded positively during talks on the deployment of up to 26,000 U.N. and AU troops who will absorb a smaller AU force that has failed to quell the violence.
"Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon and Ethiopia have pledged to provide troops for the Darfur operation," Djinnit told reporters at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
South Africa said it would consider sending more troops, in addition to the 97 it already has in Sudan.
"We will give very serious consideration and I am sure positive considerations to increasing our presence," deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad told reporters in the South African capital Pretoria.
Nigeria already has troops in Darfur and Djinnit did not say how many soldiers overall had now been pledged.
Expected to cost more than $2 billion in the first year, the so-called "hybrid" force will assume authority over 7,000 AU soldiers already in Darfur by Dec. 31, but the daunting task of finding enough personnel is expected to take many more months.
Sudan has promised to cooperate with the new mission, which was authorized by the U.N. Security Council on July 31.
Mutref Sediq, Sudan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said the resolution did not meet all Khartoum’s demands.
"But it is reasonable and constitutes a good base for cooperation between the African Union, United Nations and the Sudan government," he told a news conference in Addis Ababa.
The peacekeepers will be able to use force to protect civilians and the world’s biggest aid operation, but the resolution was watered down and no longer allows troops to seize illegal arms. There was also no threat of sanctions if Sudan fails to cooperate.
Rape, looting, murder and government bombardment have driven millions from their homes in Darfur, where mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglecting their desert region. International experts say about 200,000 people have been killed.
Sudan puts the death toll at 9,000 and accuses Western media of exaggerating the conflict, which began when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms complaining of neglect by Khartoum.
Several European countries have voiced their readiness to send troops. Nigeria said it planned to send a fourth battalion. Senegal said it would send more soldiers if they have a clear right to defend themselves.
The rebels themselves have now split into a dozen groups, many fighting one another. The United Nations and African Union are hosting a meeting in Tanzania from August 3 to try to unite the groups before peace talks with the government.
defensenews
By TSEGAYE TADESSE, REUTERS, ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
Posted 08/02/07 17:16
Five African nations pledged on Aug. 2 to send peacekeepers to a mission in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region that was approved this week by the U.N. Security Council, a top African Union (AU) official said.
Said Djinnit, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, said member states had responded positively during talks on the deployment of up to 26,000 U.N. and AU troops who will absorb a smaller AU force that has failed to quell the violence.
"Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon and Ethiopia have pledged to provide troops for the Darfur operation," Djinnit told reporters at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
South Africa said it would consider sending more troops, in addition to the 97 it already has in Sudan.
"We will give very serious consideration and I am sure positive considerations to increasing our presence," deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad told reporters in the South African capital Pretoria.
Nigeria already has troops in Darfur and Djinnit did not say how many soldiers overall had now been pledged.
Expected to cost more than $2 billion in the first year, the so-called "hybrid" force will assume authority over 7,000 AU soldiers already in Darfur by Dec. 31, but the daunting task of finding enough personnel is expected to take many more months.
Sudan has promised to cooperate with the new mission, which was authorized by the U.N. Security Council on July 31.
Mutref Sediq, Sudan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said the resolution did not meet all Khartoum’s demands.
"But it is reasonable and constitutes a good base for cooperation between the African Union, United Nations and the Sudan government," he told a news conference in Addis Ababa.
The peacekeepers will be able to use force to protect civilians and the world’s biggest aid operation, but the resolution was watered down and no longer allows troops to seize illegal arms. There was also no threat of sanctions if Sudan fails to cooperate.
Rape, looting, murder and government bombardment have driven millions from their homes in Darfur, where mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglecting their desert region. International experts say about 200,000 people have been killed.
Sudan puts the death toll at 9,000 and accuses Western media of exaggerating the conflict, which began when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms complaining of neglect by Khartoum.
Several European countries have voiced their readiness to send troops. Nigeria said it planned to send a fourth battalion. Senegal said it would send more soldiers if they have a clear right to defend themselves.
The rebels themselves have now split into a dozen groups, many fighting one another. The United Nations and African Union are hosting a meeting in Tanzania from August 3 to try to unite the groups before peace talks with the government.
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