Nigerian protection force en route to Darfur
By Silvia Aloisi
ABUJA, Oct 28 (Reuters) – An elite contingent of 50 Nigerian soldiers flew to Darfur on Thursday aboard a U.S. military plane, the first of 3,000 extra African Union troops deployed to monitor a shaky ceasefire in Sudan’s vast western region.
“The responsibility is primarily protection. There might be situations where you come across stakeholders in the conflict,” said Nigerian Major General Shekari Behubiliyok, speaking to the troops on the Abuja airstrip shortly before departure.
“You must be impartial and you must not be seen to support one side or the other. Neutrality is the guiding word.”
The reinforcements will bolster a force of 300 AU soldiers protecting 150 observers already in the vast desert region where 1.5 million civilians have been driven from their homes by violence.
“The AU decided to send an elite contingent of Nigerian troops into Darfur first and that is who we are taking today. There are about 50 troops,” said Lieutenant Colonel John Reid, US Air Force mission commander, shortly before take-off.
Nigeria expects to deploy another 350 troops over the next few weeks, bringing its total deployment to a battalion of 550. Rwanda and other AU members are expected to lift the total strength to about 3,000.
There were 18 American crew members on Thursday’s flight, who will return to Rwanda later in the day ahead of an expected airlift from that country on Saturday, the U.S. military said.
Human rights groups have called on the 53-member African Union to use the soldiers to protect civilians who have taken refuge in makeshift camps dotted along the Sudanese border with Chad, in fear of attacks by horse-riding Arab militia known as the Janjaweed who have driven them from their homes.
But the AU has given them a specific mandate to protect ceasefire monitors and safeguard civilians only if they are under imminent threat.
“The mission of the troops is a protection force to protect observers in Darfur. Our job is to restore peace,” said Nigerian Lieutenant Colonel Rabiu Abubakar.
REBELS REFUSE TO SIGN
The United Nations says Darfur is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, which has killed around 70,000 people through disease and malnutrition since March. There are no reliable figures for how many people have died due to fighting.
AU-sponsored peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebels in Abuja entered their fourth day on Thursday as the government became increasingly frustrated with what it saw as stalling tactics by the rebels.
Rebels have refused to sign a humanitarian accord to allow more aid to refugees, insisting that it be signed together with a security pact that would disarm the Janjaweed.
Mediators have prepared a preliminary agreement on security which would be presented to observers and to both sides later on Thursday.
The text calls for the government to identify and disarm the Janjaweed, while the rebels would be required to disclose the location and size of their forces, mediators said.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail is expected to visit Nigeria on Thursday for a meeting with President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is also AU chairman.
The Sudanese government has reluctantly agreed to the foreign troop presence under threat of possible oil sanctions from the United Nations. It suspects the West of siding with the rebels in the 20-month-old conflict.