US donates $2mln logistical material to Ethiopian troops for Darfur

April 17, 2008 (ADDIS ABABA) — The US Embassy in Addis Ababa delivered logistical material worth 2 USD million to the Ethiopian peacekeeping troops participating in Darfur hybrid mission.

US Ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald Yamamoto, on Thursday handed over the donation to Major General Gezaai Abera, Head of the Logistics Main Department with the Ethiopian Ministry of National Defence, the official ENA reported Thursday.

The American envoy who hailed the Ethiopian role in the regional stability said that this logistical support comes within the joint efforts to put an end to the five-year crisis in Darfur.

Ethiopia pledged to send one of the most important contribution of troops, 5000 soldiers, to be deployed in Darfur. The United Nations-African Union hybrid peacekeeping operation is supposed to deploy 26000 troops in western Sudan.

International experts estimate 2.5 million people have been forced from their homes in the five years of revolt in Darfur, which borders Chad. Washington calls the violence genocide, a term European governments are reluctant to use and which Khartoum rejects. Sudan says only 9,000 people have died.

(ST)