African force only mandated to protect monitors : Sudanese army

KHARTOUM, Aug 15, 2004 (SUNA) — Spokesman of the Armed Forces, Gen. Mohamed Bashir Suleiman, pointed out that the task of the African Protection force, the vanguards of which had begun to arrive in Darfur, is confined to protection of the 80-men African cease-fire monitoring team, currently deployed in the states of Darfur and Ndjamena.

The African Union’s Protection force is composed of 300 troops, provided equally by Rwanda and Nigeria.

In a statement to SUNA, Gen. Suleiman said that the mission of the African observation teams is to monitor the cease-fire violations and to inform the African Union’s Commission about such violations.

He stressed that the task of the African protection force does not include conducting any military action against any of the conflict parties in the case of cease-fire violations, contrary to reports which were published in some media.

He affirmed that the mission of the African Protection force is confined to protecting the African observation teams.

Meanwhile, he said that the African protection force represent a mechanism of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, indicating this force came with the agreement of Sudan government and the African Union in implementation of the resolution of the African Union Summit in last July in Addis Ababa.

He emphasized that Sudan is a founder of the African Union and committed to its charters and resolutions, adding that Sudan is fully aware about the role of the African Union in solving conflicts in Africa.