Canada boosts aid to Darfur

OTTAWA, May 12 (AFP) — Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said he will contribute 170 million dollars (136 million US dollars) in aid over the next two years to help bring peace to Sudan and will send up to 100 military experts to support African Union peacekeepers in the troubled Darfur region.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin (R) and Senator Romeo Dallaire comment on the situation in the war-torn Sudan, in Ottawa, May 12, 2005. (Reuters).

The funds are in addition to 90 million dollars (72 million US dollars) already committed by Canada last month “in support of the comprehensive peace agreement which has ended 50 years of a vicious civil war,” the prime minister said at a press conference.

The 100 soldiers, along with helicopters and transport planes, “will operate in a technical and strategic support role to the African Union, and some will also participate in the UN mission in southern Sudan, because both areas are essential to peace and progress in the region,” he said, noting his readiness to increase the number of troops if Canadian military commanders deem it necessary.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan welcomed the “substantial military support initiative to the African Union for Darfur. … (It is) an important contribution to helping deal with the crisis,” his spokesman said in a statement.

Between 180,000 and 300,000 people have died in the region since the beginning of 2003, as rebels and government forces, along with proxy militia, stepped up their offensives, according to UN estimates. More than two million people have been displaced.

Ottawa had already committed up to 31 soldiers last month to join a UN mission in southern Sudan to monitor a peace accord signed in January, after years of conflict between the government and ex-rebel separatists.

Martin, whose government will face a vote of confidence May 19 that promises to be a nail-biter, has been accused of increasing aid to Darfur to gain the crucial support of an independent MP interested in the plight of people in the region.

Martin denies the allegation.