100 Egyptian peacekeepers arrive in Darfur
March 30, 2009 (AL-FASHER) – Some 100 peacekeepers from the second Egyptian Infantry Battalion arrived Monday to El-Fasher the capital of North Darfur state to join the hybrid peacekeeping mission.
Another batch of 100 troops from the battalion is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. The additional peacekeepers will join the rest of the two Egyptian Infantry battalions that started to arrive since November 2008.
Other Egyptian engineering and communication companies are deployed in Darfur.
UNAMID is supposed to have more than 26,000 uniformed personnel, including peacekeepers and police officers, when it reaches full deployment. More than one year since its takeover in January 2008 well over 12,000 of the 19,555 military personnel authorized by the Security Council are now in place across Darfur.
Darfur peacekeepers are tasked with protecting the nearly three million displaced civilians in Darfur. However, they have neither been able to prevent clashes between the government and rebels nor provide enough safety for the refugees to return to their lands.
An AU, UN, and Sudan meeting is scheduled to take place for the first time in El-Fasher on Tuesday.
The establishment of the tripartite mechanism has been decided on by the three parties following consultations on the sidelines of the AU last summit in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, to review deployment of the hybrid force, and to find practical solutions to the challenges facing the operation.
Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Susana Malcorra is expected to attend the meeting which will examine ways to facilitate and expedite deployment of the AU-UN peacekeeping operation in the region.
(ST)