Rwanda may withdraw from Darfur, “no results” seen

March 13, 2007 (KIGALI) — Rwanda threatened on Tuesday to withdraw its troops from Sudan’s Darfur region unless more resources were committed to the African peacekeeping force, saying its soldiers had seen “no results” from their mission.

The tiny central African country has about 2,000 troops forming the backbone of a 7,000-strong African Union (AU) force in Darfur, where at least 200,000 people have died, 4 million need emergency aid and 2.5 million are in makeshift camps.

“The AU … is being overstretched in the sense that it has no capacity, no logistics, no funds and is facing weaknesses in coordination,” Rwandan President Paul Kagame told reporters.

“People are still dying, the rebels and government are still clashing,” he said. “We have given our support, but there are no results on the ground.”

Sudan has demanded tight restrictions on any U.N. movements in Darfur, stalling U.N. plans to bolster the AU force.

The U.N. Security Council is due to discuss President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s objections on Thursday.

Rwanda felt “strained” in the current situation, Kagame said, and unless more resources were committed, he added, it was “considering its relevancy” to the mission.

“We are in consultation with our partners regarding our stay there, but once we take a decision of withdrawing our troops it will be done once and for all,” Kagame said.

Rwanda says it has spent $12 million on its deployment so far, but has only received half of that back from the AU.

“If we are not getting the best support and our presence is not benefiting those in the conflict, it is not benefiting us either to be there,” Kagame said.

(Reuters)