AU to increase Darfur troop strength to 11,000
Sept 25, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — The African Union will add 4,000 troops to its extended Darfur peacekeeping mission, bringing the number of police and soldiers in western Sudan to 11,000, a spokesman for the AU said on Monday.
“The Peace and Security Council of the AU … has endorsed the new concept of operation, extending the duration of stay of the African Mission in Sudan up to December 31, 2006, and to boost the troop level by six battalions,” said Assan Ba, spokesman for the AU in Addis Ababa.
One battalion consists of 680 troops. The AU said the soldiers would come from countries already contributing troops in Darfur — Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal.
The move came as international pressure on Sudan rises to allow a robust force of 20,000 U.N. troops into Darfur to replace the current 7,000 poorly funded and under-equipped AU forces tasked with monitoring a battered ceasefire.
An estimated 200,000 people have died in Darfur since violence flared in 2003, and 2.5 million have been displaced in the fighting between government forces, rebels and militias.
But the Sudanese government has refused to allow U.N. forces into Darfur, calling it a Western ploy to recolonise Sudan.
The African Union’s mandate in Darfur had been set to expire on Sept. 30 and the pan-African body had said it could not continue beyond October because it was out of money and needed more equipment such as helicopters.
With aid experts predicting a new humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur if African troops withdrew, the AU agreed last week to extend its mission until Dec. 31, with logistical and material support from the United Nations and funding from Arab states.
The United Nations has readied communications and other equipment and 100 personnel to help AU forces in the coming months.
Qatar’s U.N. ambassador, Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser, said some $50 million had been raised for the force among Arab nations, who aimed at raising $100 million.
SUDANESE TROOPS
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir told a news conference on Sunday night Sudan would ultimately send 20,000 “integrated” forces to Darfur to protect civilians as part of a peace deal signed in May with one rebel faction.
“This is the main force that will be responsible for protecting citizens in camps for displaced people, protecting roads, and protecting places where there are refugees and displaced,” Bashir said.
“It will not need any external funding because it will be part of the armed forces and the national police.”
But the prospect of Sudanese troops providing security in the camps has triggered alarm among refugees and aid workers who blame government forces and allied militias for much of the violence in Darfur.
In New York, efforts were to continue on Monday to gear up for a possible mission transfer to U.N. troops, which are seen as better able than the AU forces to aggressively enforce a tattered 2004 ceasefire and the shaky May peace deal.
More than 140 countries interested in contributing troops and police to a U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur are expected to attend a meeting convened by the U.N. department of peacekeeping operations in New York.
(Reuters)