African peacekeepers transfer authority to UNAMID on Monday
December 29, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The joint UN and African peacekeeping force will formally take over from the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) on 31 December 2007 in a ceremony at the new mission’s headquarters in El Fasher.
Some 9,000 uniformed personnel are on the ground now, including 7,000 troops and 1,200 police serving with the AMIS, which was established in 2004 to help bring peace to Darfur, as well as United Nations soldiers and police officers serving as part of the UN’s “heavy” and “light support packages” deployed to support AMIS over the last year.
More than 50 AU troops have lost their lives in Darfur since 2004, with 12 killed as the result of an attack at Haskanita, South Darfur in September 2007.
The transfer of authority will comprise a signing ceremony between both parties in the presence of a representative of the Sudanese Government. In addition, AU troops will exchange their green headgear for the UN’s blue beret.
Speaking of the upcoming transfer of authority, the AU-UN Joint Special Representative for Darfur and Head of UNAMID, Rodolphe Adada said: “The situation in Darfur will not be transformed overnight. However we are optimistic that the deployment of UNAMID will help begin to improve the security situation in Darfur and create a climate favourable to the achievement of a negotiated settlement of the conflict, the distribution of humanitarian assistance to millions of displaced Darfurians and ultimately the development of the region.”
On the ground presently are 10 infantry battalions of Rwandan, South African, Nigerian and Senegalese troops. They are complemented by a Kenyan Military Police unit, a Force HQ Company from Gambia, a Chinese engineering company and more than 1,000 individual police officers (from more than 25 countries) and a Formed Police Unit (FPU) from Bangladesh. Troops from Egypt, Pakistan and Ethiopia, plus an FPU from Nepal are expected to deploy over the next two months.
UN officials have cautioned that the equipment necessary to support the troops is still lacking, particularly air assets such as helicopters, and have appealed to Member States to close this critical gap.
(ST)