Indonesia to send 140 police to Darfur

April 4, 2008 (JAKARTA) — Indonesia is to contribute 140 police to a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, the national police spokesman said Friday.

The joint force, known as UNAMID, is tasked with protecting the civilian population of a region the size of France which has been mired in civil strife between ethnic minority rebels and the Khartoum government since 2003.

So far, only around 9,000 of a planned 26,000 members are actually on the ground.

“We will send a contingent of 140 chosen personnel on May 25. They will join the U.N. peacekeeping force for six months,” Abubakar Nataprawira told a press conference here.

The U.N. says at least 200,000 people have died in Darfur and two million more have been driven from their homes since February 2003. Sudan’s government insists the figures are exaggerated.

The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution mandating a 26,000-strong force for Darfur last July.

And the U.S. recently pressed the U.N. to ensure that 3,600 more international peacekeepers are deployed in the region by June.

Indonesia already has about 850 troops serving with the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

The United Nations says at least 200,000 people have died in Darfur and two million more driven from their homes since February 2003. Sudan insists the figures are exaggerated.

(AFP)