Nigeria will likely contribute troops for UN force in Darfur
April 18, 2007 (ABUJA) — The Nigerian military will likely contribute troops for a U.N. peacekeeping force in Sudan’s war-battered Darfur region, a military spokesman said Wednesday.
One battalion of Nigerian soldiers is heading to a training site in the country’s north and “the likelihood is very strong” that they would become part of the proposed U.N. force, said Col. Ayo Olaniyan, an Army spokesman.
A Nigerian battalion comprises about 800 troops.
After a long-sought agreement from Sudan, the U.N. hopes to send about 3,000 blue-helmeted peace troops to Darfur to help a beleaguered 7,000-strong African Union force in Darfur that already includes Nigerian troops. It appeared Nigeria planned to devote peacekeepers to the U.N. force while also keeping troops in the AU contingent.
Sudan sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon earlier this week accepting a so-called “heavy support package” for Darfur under which the 3,000 U.N. troops and police and logistical and aviation equipment would be sent. The U.N. and AU have made clear they want it to be followed by deployment of the 20,000-strong “hybrid” U.N.-AU force Sudan continues to oppose.
At the U.N. Tuesday, the U.K.’s U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said whether the 3,000 troops and equipment can be deployed by the end of June, when the U.N. Security Council mandate for the AU force ends, depends on what countries come forward to contribute troops. A troop contributors meeting was scheduled for Friday.
More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.2 million forced to flee their homes in the four-year conflict in Darfur, which began when rebels from ethnic African tribes rose up against the central, Arab-dominated government. The government is accused of responding by unleashing the janjaweed militias of Arab nomads -blamed for indiscriminate killing. The government denies links to the janjaweed.
Nigeria has hosted several rounds of Darfur peace talks. Alongside South Africa, Nigeria is a leading African diplomatic and military heavyweight and its peacekeepers have served in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo and other countries.
(AP)