Africa pledges more troops for Darfur as unrest claims dozens
Saturday, 4 August 2007
ADDIS ABABA, Aug 3 (AFP): African Union (AU) members Thursday pledged to put more troops into the UN-approved peacekeeping mission in Darfur, where fresh tribal violence left dozens dead.
Ambassadors to the pan-African body gathered at its Addis Ababa headquarters to raise troops for the force, which faces the daunting task of stabilising the war-torn Sudanese region.
"The response we got from our members has been encouraging. Many have pledged to send troops; Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Mauritania and many others have made pledges," Said Djinnit, the AU commissioner for peace and security, told reporters.
The gathering came amid tribal violence in southern Darfur that has claimed at least 140 lives.
In the latest outbreak, a tribal leader said Thursday that 65 people were killed and 25 wounded in a second day of clashes between the Rzigat Aballa tribe and the Torjam.
The 7,000 AU peacekeepers in Darfur now will be replaced by a so-called "hybrid" force of AU and UN troops, following the UN Security Council's unanimous approval of the deployment Tuesday.
The new force will be the world's largest peacekeeping operation, with some 26,000 troops and police mandated to protect civilians in Darfur and support a moribund peace agreement signed last year.
The UN resolution authorising the deployment says the new mission "should have a predominantly African character and the troops should, as far as possible, be sourced from African countries."
Yet the first countries to express interest in sending troops were the likes of Sweden, Norway, France and the Netherlands.
The European Union, which has already provided more than 550 million dollars (400 million euros) to the AU force, said it would consider a military contribution.
Ambassadors to the pan-African body gathered at its Addis Ababa headquarters to raise troops for the force, which faces the daunting task of stabilising the war-torn Sudanese region.
"The response we got from our members has been encouraging. Many have pledged to send troops; Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Mauritania and many others have made pledges," Said Djinnit, the AU commissioner for peace and security, told reporters.
The gathering came amid tribal violence in southern Darfur that has claimed at least 140 lives.
In the latest outbreak, a tribal leader said Thursday that 65 people were killed and 25 wounded in a second day of clashes between the Rzigat Aballa tribe and the Torjam.
The 7,000 AU peacekeepers in Darfur now will be replaced by a so-called "hybrid" force of AU and UN troops, following the UN Security Council's unanimous approval of the deployment Tuesday.
The new force will be the world's largest peacekeeping operation, with some 26,000 troops and police mandated to protect civilians in Darfur and support a moribund peace agreement signed last year.
The UN resolution authorising the deployment says the new mission "should have a predominantly African character and the troops should, as far as possible, be sourced from African countries."
Yet the first countries to express interest in sending troops were the likes of Sweden, Norway, France and the Netherlands.
The European Union, which has already provided more than 550 million dollars (400 million euros) to the AU force, said it would consider a military contribution.