Germany decides to send military observers to Sudan

BERLIN, April 13, 2005 (Bloomberg) — The German government today decided to send as many as 75 soldiers as military observers to Sudan to join a United Nations mission overseeing a peace agreement between Sudan’s government and southern rebels.

The dispatch of the troops means that “Germany is making a substantial and visible contribution to bringing lasting peace to Sudan,” said an e-mailed government statement from Berlin. “Without this international support, there is the danger of a renewed outbreak of hostilities.”

An accord signed Jan. 9 ended 22 years of civil war between the Sudanese government and the southern rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, in which more than 2 million people were killed and as many as 4 million driven from their homes. International donors yesterday agreed to give more than $4.5 billion in aid to Sudan to help rebuild the country.

Germany’s lower house of parliament still has to ratify the deployment, which will be as part of a 10,000-strong UN force including 750 observers. Germany already has 7,500 soldiers serving on missions overseas, with the largest contingents in Afghanistan and the Balkans.