Malawi pledges to send troops to Darfur peacekeeping mission

August 10, 2007 (BLANTYRE, Malawi) — Malawi will contribute troops to the joint African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur, a senior government minister said Friday.

Defense Minister Bob Khamisa told the AP the country has a battalion of 800 soldiers on standby for the mission.

The commitment by the impoverished southern African country follows a U.N. Security Council resolution on July 31 to approve a 26,000 joint peacekeeping operation in the troubled region. If the force is fully deployed it would be the world’s largest peacekeeping operation.

Khamisa said Malawi’s move was “one way of showing solidarity with the African Union and also solidarity with the suffering civilians in Darfur. Malawi believes in peace on the continent.”

The force is expected to absorb and take over from a beleaguered 7,000-strong AU force – which includes Zambia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa – currently in Darfur no later than Dec. 31. The U.N. said the force, called UNAMID, will have “a predominantly African character,” as Sudan has demanded.

Senegal said Thursday it would triple the size of its current contingent to 1,600 as part of the new joint force. Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia also have pledged to contribute troops or add to current contingents for a joint force. Swaziland has said it was likely to.

More than 200,000 people have died in the nearly four years since ethnic African rebels in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of discrimination. Khartoum is accused of retaliating by unleashing janjaweed militias, which are blamed for the worst atrocities against civilians in a conflict that has displaced more than 2.5 million people.

(AP)