Over 600 Rwandan troops ready for Darfur

KIGALI, Oct 18, 2004 (Xinhua) — Rwanda is to beef up its contingent to Sudan’s war-torn region of Darfur with more than 600 troops to protect African Union peace observers, Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Muligande said here Monday.

The minister said that a battalion of between 600 and 800 troops would take off for Darfur soon. “Some few elements are yet to be sorted out and by 25th this month, we’re very optimistic that everything will be in place,” he underscored.

The decision followed a United Nations resolution requesting members of the African Union to send more troops to Sudan. “The will of intervention in any volatile areas is our commitment and we have the capacity to do that,” Muligande said, but did not mention the exact date when the troops would be heading for Darfur.

The development came shortly after Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is also the current African Union chairman, announced Friday that another battalion from Rwanda would be deployed in Darfur, and another from Nigeria would be deployed by Oct. 30.

Col. Patrick Karegeya, the Rwandan army spokesman, also confirmed that troops are ready and are only awaiting a call from the concerned authorities.

The 53-nation African Union already has 300 unarmed African Union military observers in Darfur to monitor a ceasefire that has been violated several times since April. AU officials had previously said the Darfur mission would grow to about 3,500 troops.

The Darfur crisis, which began 20 months ago, has left thousands of people dead and displaced. Peace talks aimed at resolving the crisis are expected to resume in Abuja later this month.