114 Ethiopian peacekeepers arrive to Darfur
August 16, 2008 (EL-FASHER) — The first batch of an Ethiopian engineering company arrived today to the capital of El-Fasher to join the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
Today’s batch of 114 Ethiopian engineering personnel is part of the advance units of 350 peacekeepers who will continue to arrive on Sunday and Monday.
The groups was welcomed by UNAMID Deputy Joint Special Representative Henry Anyidoho who pointed out their important role to build roads, bridges and camps for the deployment of the 5000 Ethiopian troops.
Hours after their arrival, the Ethiopian contingent departed to western Darfur where they are deployed in Kulbus and Silea.
This Ethiopian force is part of two battalions, 850 each, to be deployed in Darfur before the end of the year.
In a gesture of good will, the Sudanese authorities authorized the entrance to the country of the 114 peacekeepers despite a problem related to non-arrival of their passports, the official agency SUNA reported.
Rodolphe Adada, the head of the joint U.N. and African Union peacekeeping mission for Darfur, is expected to hold a meeting tomorrow with the undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mutrif Sidiq, who is in charge of the UNAMID file to discuss the outstanding issues related to the hybrid operation.
(ST)