S. Africa to send 10 military observers to Sudan

JOHANNESBURG, June 11 (AFP) — South Africa has received a formal request to send 10 high-ranking officers to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan as part of an African mission to monitor a ceasefire, a defence spokesman said on Friday.

“I can confirm that the Department of Defence … has received a request from the African Union to send 10 military observers to Sudan,” Defence Ministry spokesman Sam Mkhwanzai said.

“It is envisaged that if they are deployed, they will perform their duties at the AU headquarters, for example being sector commanders, team leaders and people in the information technology (IT) environment,” he told AFP.

The AU this week set up mission headquarters in al-Fashir, in the northern part of Darfur, to monitor a ceasefire between rebels and the Khartoum government with its allied militia.

South African President Thabo Mbeki announced the mission to Sudan in Washington on Thursday after talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Johannesburg-based ThisDay newspaper said.

Mkhwanazi said the request was subject to approval by the cabinet.

The deployment of the advance team sparked speculation that South Africa would be sending a larger military contingent, similar to its peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An estimated 10,000 people have died since rebels complaining of government neglect of their impoverished region launched an uprising in Darfur in February 2003 and were met with fierce retaliation by government and Janjawid militia forces.

An estimated one million people have been displaced in Darfur and 130,000 others have fled across the border into Chad. United Nations agencies have described the Darfur crisis as the world’s biggest current humanitarian catastrophe.