German parliament extends Darfur mission

Dec 16, 2005 (BERLIN) — The German Bundestag has given the green light for a continuation of the German Armed Forces support for the African Union in the Sudanese crisis region Darfur.

German soldiers enter a Transall C-160 cargo plane at the military airbase Penzing, 50 kilometers (28 miles) west of Munich, southern Germany, on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2004. (AP).

On Friday 16 December in Berlin, the lower house of the German parliament approved with a broad majority the federal government’s motion for an extension of the mission by another six months until 2 June 2006. In a roll call vote, 487 deputies voted in favour and 39 against it. Sixteen abstained from voting.

This enables the German army to continue to provide logistical support for the air transport of forces of the African Union (AU) to Sudan with up to 200 soldiers.

According to the federal government, the additional costs for another six months, when fully using the mandate, will amount to up to 7m euros. The costs for maintaining the present size of the operation are estimated at about 1m euros.

The goal of the AU mission is to clearly increase the presence of observers to guarantee the observation of an armistice between the parties to the conflict in western Sudan and to allow humanitarian help. At the same time, the forces should protect the civilian population in the event of an immediate threat.

(DDP/ST)