Minister urges German participation in UN Darfur forces

Nov 25, 2006 (BERLIN) – Germany should participate in any UN peacekeeping mission in the Sudan’s troubled Darfur region because a genocide is taking place there, a federal German minister said.

Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul told the weekly “Bild am Sonntag” that Germany could hardly refuse such a request should the United Nations decide to step into the crisis.

“If there is a request by the UN to European countries (to send troops), the Europeans and Germans can and are not allowed to reject it because there is a genocide on slow motion taking place in Darfur,” the minister told the daily Bild Am Sonntag, which is due to hit newsstands on Sunday.

“The bloodbath in Darfur must end,” added Wieczorek-Zeul.

At least 200,000 people have been killed in Sudan’s Darfur region over the past three years and 2.5 million are on the run from the fighting in the African country.

There are presently around 78 German military monitors and soldiers based in Sudan as part of the UN mission (UNMIS).

(ST)