U.S. planes to help deploy African troops in Darfur
BOCA RATON, Fla., Oct 18 (Reuters) – The United States said on Monday it would provide two U.S. military transport planes to help expand an African peacekeeping force in Sudan’s Darfur region.
The White House said President George W. Bush directed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to make the planes available for two weeks starting later this month to help deploy the African Union force, which is expected to total about 3,500.
The first 1,000 troops were expected to come from Rwanda and Nigeria, and the White House said their immediate task will be to monitor a cease-fire and “help create conditions to increase the free flow of humanitarian assistance to the people of Darfur.”
The statement was issued by the White House during a campaign stop in Boca Raton, Florida.
Australia has also offered to provide two C-130 Hercules to airlift African troops, the White House said.
“We believe that an AU decision to deploy additional African troops by the end of October will greatly help to improve security and create conditions in which humanitarian assistance can be more effectively provided to the people of Darfur,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
The United States renewed its call on the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebels to adhere to the cease-fire, allow for the free movement of relief workers and supplies, and “to work in good faith toward a negotiated settlement.”
The United Nations says about 70,000 people have died from hunger and disease since the Darfur conflict began. There are no reliable estimates of those killed by the fighting.
Sudan’s government has said it would accept additional troops to monitor a shaky cease-fire in Darfur.
Rebels launched a revolt in early 2003 after years of skirmishes between African farmers and Arab nomads over land.
They accuse the government of arming Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to crush them and their civilian sympathizers, a charge Khartoum denies.
Peace talks between the government and rebels, which collapsed last month, are due to reconvene on Oct. 21.