Madagascan troops ready to go to Darfur

October 15, 2007 (ANTANANARIVO) — Over 300 Madagascan armymen are ready to join the Southern African Development Community (SADC) standby brigade in a mission to restore peace in Darfur, southwest Sudan, local media reported on Monday.

A two-week military maneuver aimed at improving military competence and know-how in case of intervention, was closed in the northern part of the country on Saturday.

Among the troops that participated in the exercise were 360 soldiers, who would be sent to Darfur to join the SADC peacekeeping forces, Madagascan Minister of Defense Behajaina Petera disclosed at the closing ceremony.

The maneuver, codenamed Diana, was jointly carried out by a troop from the Madagascan national army and the French Armed Forces in the Southern Indian Ocean (AFSIO), the French-language daily, MIDI, reported here on Monday.

Over 400 soldiers from AFSIO had been sent to Madagascar from the Indian Ocean islands of Reunion and Mayotte to participate in the training.

The troops were now operational and ready to integrate into SADC standby brigade, set up last August, for a peacekeeping mission in southern Sudan, the Madagascan Defense Minister was quoted as saying.

(Xinhua)