Rwandan peacekeeper dies in Sudan’s Darfur – army

May 9, 2008 (KIGALI) – A Rwandan officer died last week in the Sudan’s troubled region of Darfur, the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) spokesperson disclosed yesterday.

Lt. Munyegabe was a member of 55th Battalion deployed in Sector North under the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), the RDF said on Thursday.

“The RDF Headquarters last week sent a message of condolences to the bereaved family of Lt. Munyengabe who passed away on May 1 at around 1630hrs in Darfur,” said the spokesman.

“He developed diabetes and since it was the first time, he went into a comma and died a short while later, Rutaremera added:

Lt. Munyegabe joined the army on January 25, 1995. He is survived by a widow and two children.

He is the first Rwandan peacekeeper to die since the transfer of authority from AMIS to hybrid peacekeeping force (UNAMID) in January 2008. He is the tenth Rwandan military to die in Darfur since the troops were deployed there in August, 2004.

(ST)