Darfur Force To Consist Of All AU Troops

[Cpl Kendall]

BBC

Darfur force 'to be all-African'

Africa will provide all of the 26,000 peacekeepers to be sent to Sudan's Darfur region, the head of the African Union (AU) has said.

AU chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said enough African troops had been promised for no outside help to be needed but he did not give details.

The UN had expected to call on Asian troops. Critics say Africa lacks enough trained troops for an effective force.

Sudan's government has long opposed the involvement of non-African soldiers.

It only agreed to a joint United Nations-AU force after months of negotiations.

The UN Security Council resolution setting up the force said the troops would be mostly African but they would be under UN command.

Viable plan?

UN spokesman Farhan Haq said that while there may be enough AU troops for the force, it was important to get the right mix of abilities on the ground.

"It's not simply a question of raw numbers of troops - we¿re trying to find a good mix of skills," he told the BBC News website.

"We're looking to make sure this force is robust, it's mobile, it's well-armed and equipped, so that it can carry out the full mandate that it needs to perform."

Speaking after talks in Khartoum with the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Mr Konare said: "I can confirm today that we have received sufficient commitments from African countries that we will not have to resort to non-African forces."

He added that the "ball is now in the court of the UN" to provide funding for the force.

Africa's Darfur bombshell
Mr Bashir, who has long argued that a UN-backed force would be a violation of Sudan's sovereignty and could worsen the situation there, backed Mr Konare's plan.

"[We] support the AU force, which consolidates the efforts of the Sudanese government to ensure security, peace and stability in Darfur," he said after their meeting.

Mr Konare did not give a breakdown of the countries offering to supply more personnel, leading correspondents to question the viability of an all-African force.

BBC Africa analyst David Bamford said it was unclear where so many African troops would come from.

Senegal and Malawi have promised to send peacekeepers to Darfur, while the AU has said that Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria have also promised to contribute.

Hafiz Mohamed from lobby group Justice Africa said Sudan would be able to manipulate AU troops - as he said they had been doing with the 7,000 AU troops already in Darfur.

"This will affect the whole credibility of the new resolution," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

Deadline looming

Mr Konare's announcement came just days after the UN published a list of Asian countries it said had already committed troops and police officers to a Darfur force.

Displaced Sudanese woman with her son in Darfur - file photo
Some two million people have fled their homes to displacement camps
UN officials said the joint AU-UN force would be "predominantly African", but confirmed that countries including Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh had pledged personnel.

According to a UN resolution, the composition of the force must be decided by 30 August.

At least 200,000 people are believed to have died and more than two million have been left homeless in Darfur since fighting broke out in 2003.

Sudan's Arab dominated government, and the pro-government Janjaweed militias, are accused of war crimes against the region's black African population - although the UN has stopped short of calling it genocide.

Sudan has always denied backing the Janjaweed militias and argued that the problems in Darfur were being exaggerated for political reasons.

In other words the force is to be composed of pure suck. Seriously they may as well deploy a fucking street gang to Darfur.

[frigidmagi]

A street gang might actually defend the refugee camps. From all reports the AU troops there haven't even when they had every reason to. I look to see this group do a whole lot of nothing besides providing us with fresh UN peacekeeper sex scandals.

[Comrade Tortoise]

I think the term "sex scandal" is an understatement. The term "rape plague" is probably a bit better

[Cpl Kendall]

As I recall, some of them were raping goats in East Timor. I guess the regular Western troops wouldn't let them rape women.

[frigidmagi]

The Aussies had a armed standoff with some of them complete with assault helicoptor over it.

Say what you will about the Aussies, they ain't cowards and they have morals of proper solders.

[Comrade Tortoise]

The Aussies had a armed standoff with some of them complete with assault helicoptor over it.

Say what you will about the Aussies, they ain't cowards and they have morals of proper solders.

Wait? Armed standoff over raping goats or raping women?

[frigidmagi]

Nah over raping kids.

[Cpl Kendall]

Wait? Armed standoff over raping goats or raping women?

I'd suggest that a third party provide AU troops with hookers but they'd probably beat them after they fucked them. These guys are barely one step above the Janjaweed themselves and are probably doped up or drunk at least some of the time.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Nah over raping kids.

Wow... I am not shocked overmuch... but at the same time...

And they dont want nice European troops? I mean, the germans may be ineffectual, but at least german troops dont rape people often...

[Cpl Kendall]

Wow... I am not shocked overmuch... but at the same time...

And they dont want nice European troops? I mean, the germans may be ineffectual, but at least german troops dont rape people often...

The Sudan said they wouldn't accept anyone but AU troops. I think they cited some Islamic bullshit as their reason. I believe they knew that AU troops are useless and they want the state of affairs to continue unabated.

[frigidmagi]

Thing is most of the AU troops will not be muslim.

[Rogue 9]

Wait. So in East Timor the Aussies had to face down African troops with a fucking helicopter gunship to get them to not rape children? What the flying fuck? Why are they deployed anywhere if they're as bad as that?