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| Africa: Horn |
| NATO agrees to airlift African Union troops to Sudan's Darfur region |
| 2005-06-09 |
| NATO defence ministers meeting Thursday plan to come to the aid of the African Union's peacekeeping operation in Darfur with an offer to ferry 5,000 additional African troops to the region of western Sudan. The ministers, however, will likely stress that the African Union remains in charge of the peacekeeping operation. The Darfur mission would be NATO's first in Africa. The African Union - a 53-member organization that African countries use to address problems on that continent - asked NATO in April to help bring more of African troops into the remote region. The African Union currently has 2,700 or so peacekeepers in Darfur, site of one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes. It wants to deploy another 5,000 - ideally before next month's start of the rainy season - but needs aircraft to send them into the region, which is the size of France. At least some of those additional troops will be flown in by a separate European Union mission, with EU ministers are expected to approve next week. Washington had hoped for a NATO-commanded airlift operation, but France insisted the EU take charge. As a result, the two will run "side-by-side" airlift operations while taking pains to avoid wasteful duplication, said a NATO official. The United States plans to fly Rwandan troops to Darfur as part the alliance airlift. France will fly Senegalese troops under the EU flag. South Africa and Nigeria have also asked for help to fly troops to western Sudan. Officials said NATO will only fly peacekeepers to Darfur, provide a some support staff to help the African Union run a headquarters but has made no commitment on rotating troops. Only Canada has expressed a readiness to provide helicopters to fly peacekeepers within Darfur. Violence has raged in Darfur for more than a year, mostly between black Africans and ethnic Arab militiamen called the Janjaweed aligned with the Sudanese government. The government and the Janjaweed have been accused of committing wide-scale abuses against ethnic Africans in which 180,000 people have died and millions have fled to refugee camps. |
| Posted by:ed |
| #6 And everybody will use American military transports. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-06-09 16:58 |
| #5 Washington had hoped for a NATO-commanded airlift operation, but France insisted the EU take charge. As a result, the two will run "side-by-side" airlift operations while taking pains to avoid wasteful duplication, said a NATO official. Okay. Let's have a race. See who gets there first. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-06-09 12:01 |
| #4 Actually, the same goes for mortuary services - which will prolly be their largest single expense, come to think of it. I'm sure there's a Peaceful Repose in Paradise or Get Yer Virgins Now or Deaders 'R Us listed somewhere on the 'Net. Hey, these guys could prolly work something out, for a fair price. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-06-09 11:58 |
| #3 Why don't they just charter a few Air France jets, rent some choppers and crew from Blackwater, hire Alladin's Lamp catering, and have Tribe, Inc build the |
| Posted by: .com 2005-06-09 11:53 |
| #2 but France insistedto pay, for the whole partay. |
| Posted by: Delusional Francophile 2005-06-09 10:20 |
| #1 This will be the largest all Euro airlift since Stalingrad. What? Oh. Nevermind. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-09 10:05 |
