African Union may send 2,000 troops to Darfur
(Adds Nigeria ready to send troops in paragraphs 13-14)
By Tsegaye Tadesse
ADDIS ABABA, Aug 4 (Reuters) – The African Union will boost the number of troops it will deploy to Sudan’s troubled Darfur region to 2,000 from 300, once the head of the AU’s security body approves the proposal, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
The initiative, which was discussed and put forward by ministers in the AU’s 15-member Peace and Security Council that includes Sudan, now awaits the signature of South African President Thabo Mbeki, the spokesman said.
Mbeki holds the security organ’s rotating chairmanship for August and is set to chair a meeting this month at which he will be expected to sign it.
The proposal was also discussed at the 53-member AU summit in Addis Ababa last month, and would also aim to broaden the original mandate of the AU force to include a peacekeeping role as well as protecting truce monitors in Darfur.
“The AU plans to increase troop strength of its protection force for Darfur from 300 to 2,000, with Nigeria and Rwanda offering to send 1,000 troops each,” AU spokesman Adam Thiam told Reuters.
“The Peace and Security Council has proposed that the AU protection force should be enlarged and serve as a peacekeeping force in Darfur, and expects the (Peace and Security Council) chairman to approve it,” Thiam said.
However, he said there was no date yet for the next meeting of the security body, whose principal aim is to “promote peace, security and stability in Africa”.
The United Nations says the world’s worst humanitarian crisis is unfolding in western Sudan, where fighting between rebels and Janjaweed militia has killed at least 30,000 people and uprooted 1 million, who have sought refuge in barren camps.
The Netherlands said on Tuesday it would fund a mission to fly 360 AU troops to Darfur.
Rwandan army spokesman Patrick Karegeya said Rwanda had not received an official request from the AU for more troops.
“But we would provide them if asked,” Karegeya said, adding: “We have more than 1,000 troops who have already undergone peace support training.”
Rwandan military sources expect to deploy to Darfur by August 10, but were waiting for official confirmation by the AU.
Nigerian Defence Minister Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso said Nigeria would send 1,000 troops to Sudan if asked to do so.
“Yes. Their mandate is no different from that given by the African Union, which is peacekeeping in Sudan. I don’t know precise dates, but I know we are working towards it,” he told Reuters.
A European Union (EU) fact-finding mission was due to arrive in the Ethiopian capital on Wednesday to meet AU officials before going on to Darfur.
The U.N. Security Council has given Khartoum 30 days to disarm and prosecute the Janjaweed, drawn from the nomadic Arab population, or face sanctions.
(Additional reporting by Robert Walker in Kigali, Felix Onuah in Abuja)