Australia to play leading role in UN Sudan miliary command

Nov 30, 2005 (CANBERRA) — Australia has been asked by the United Nations to nominate a member of the Australian Defence Force to fill the position of the next military commander of the UN mission in Sudan.

The Minister for Defence, Robert Hill, told the Herald yesterday, on his return from a visit to Australia’s 15 troops in Sudan, that if Australia’s nomination was accepted it would mean a “significantly higher profile” for Australia.

The Government has committed 15 troops and 10 police to the UN mission, which is overseeing the ceasefire agreement between the north and south of Sudan, bringing to an end a 50-year civil war.

Senator Hill said that while initially Australia’s contribution was seen as a humanitarian one, the importance of the region in the “war on terrorism” had increasingly become apparent to him. Sudan at one time provided support for Osama bin Laden.

(The Sydney Morning)