Rwand to withdraw troops if Darfur peace mission failed
Dec 13, 2006 (KIGALI) — Rwanda could withdrew its peacekeeping troops from the troubled Darfur region of the Sudan if Rwandan troops fail to accomplish their peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur, The Kigali based The New Times reported.
This was disclosed by President Paul Kagame in Monday’s press conference at Village Urugwiro, Kacyiru. Kagame, who was responding to a question on whether he softened his earlier stance that Rwandan troops would be recalled in the wake of failing to make a difference, said that his government had threatened to withdraw from Darfur in case of a diplomatic stalemate.
Addressing the first Darfur-bound Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) contingent about two years ago, Kagame said that Rwanda would pullout its troops in case their mandate incapacitated them from saving the lives of those bearing the blunt of the violence. “There’s a time when our Cabinet almost made a decision to pullout our soldiers; but we informed all stakeholders that if the misunderstanding remains unsolved, we would end our mission there. However, the parties involved including the government of Sudan made a change in their positions,” Kagame said.
He said that the misunderstanding had made the Darfur-based African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) lack necessary logistics to effectively do its job.
About 2,000 Rwandan soldiers are among the over 7000-strong African Union troops trying to enforce a peace deal between Darfur rebels and President Omar el Bashir’s government.
Until recently, Sudan had totally rejected any UN interference into the Darfur problem, with one time threatening an all-out war against foreign intervention. However, the Sudanese government later agreed to a limited UN intervention
Reports indicate that despite the AU mission’s presence in Darfur, scores of black farmers continue to be killed by allegedly Khartoum-backed Arab militia called Janjaweed.
Meanwhile President Kagame downplayed reports that failure by re-elected DR Congolese President Joseph Kabila to invite him and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda during his last week’s swearing-in ceremony, saying that that had nothing to do with peace and stability in the region.
(The New Times)