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Sudan Tribune

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Darfur hybrid force honors slain peacekeepers

July 12, 2008 (EL FASHER) — The United Nations-African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) honored the seven peacekeepers that were killed during an ambush on a peacekeeping patrol in North Darfur, on 8 July.

The solemn farewell ceremony was held at the headquarters of the Mission in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. In attendance were UNAMID personnel, led by Joint Special Representative (JSR), Rodolphe Adada, Force Commander, General Martin Luther Agwai, Deputy Police Commissioner, Elizabeth Muwanga and the rest of the mission’s senior management.

Joint Special Representative Rodolphe Adada said, “I am standing here …filled with pain and anger over this shocking turn of events. Those who are trying to promote peace in Darfur become the victims of violence and indiscriminate injustice.”

Addressing his staff, Adada said, “Despite the pain, you …and I… will continue to protect those we came here to protect … those who need our presence and our patrols. We will take the torch of bravery from these seven soldiers and run with it till the end. This is our collective commitment to all the helpless civilians in Darfur, and it is our commitment to the brave seven.”

Force Commander, Agwai, urged peacekeepers not to give-up, “We remain resolute in our quest,” he said.

He condemned the attack in the strongest terms, adding that, “peacekeepers are not part of the problem … they are here to give hope to those who have been reduced to displaced in their own country. To, therefore, turn around and make the peacekeepers targets is totally unjustifiable.”

UNAMID lost five Protection Force soldiers from Rwanda and two policemen from Ghana and Uganda, in the course of the attack. The gunmen attacked the peacekeepers in an area called Umm Hagiba, about 60 miles from UNAMID’s camp in North Darfur.

The Deputy Police Commissioner, whilst paying tribute to the fallen comrades stated that those who committed this outrageous attack must be brought to justice.

It was not immediately clear who stood behind the attack but the UN said the assailants were gunmen on horseback suggesting that they to the pro-government Janjaweed militia accused of committing the worst atrocities since the Darfur conflict broke out.

UN peacekeeping department top official told the Security Council in a closed door meeting Friday that the deadly attack on Darfur peacekeepers was a “well-prepared” operation conducted in a government-controlled area.

However the government denies the charge and accuses rebel groups of being behind the attack.

(ST)

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