France, Denmark, Indonesia ready to take part in Darfur peacekeeping effort

PARIS – France, Denmark and Indonesia offered yesterday to contribute to a joint United Nations-African Union mission for Darfur, a 26 000-strong force expected to be made up mostly of peacekeepers from Africa with backup from Asian troops.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the force- which, if fully deployed, would be the world’s largest peacekeeping operation – to help end four years of rape and slaughter of civilians in the vast Sudanese desert region. Coming up with such large numbers of new troops could be difficult, as many militaries are already overstretched in existing peacekeeping efforts and conflicts such as Iraq, observers say.Britain’s military, for example, has 7 100 service members in Afghanistan and 5 500 in Iraq.”We would consider requests to support the United Nations-Africans Mission in Darfur once we receive a formal request to do so,” Britain’s Defence Ministry said yesterday in a statement, adding that it is assisting the existing AU mission in Darfur in areas including logistics and planning.But a spokeswoman at the British foreign office – who spoke on condition of anonymity, in keeping with the ministry’s regulations – said Britain would not send ground forces: “We’re not going to be putting soldiers with guns and tanks in Darfur.”The conflict in Darfur began in February 2003 when ethnic African tribes rebelled against what they considered decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government.Sudan’s government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed – a charge it denies.More than 200 000 people have died, and 2,5 million have been uprooted.The new peacekeeping force will take over from the beleaguered 7 000-strong AU force now in Darfur no later than December 31.The UN said the force, called UNAMID, will have ‘a predominantly African character’, as Sudan demanded.African troops already in Darfur will stay there.Nampa-APComing up with such large numbers of new troops could be difficult, as many militaries are already overstretched in existing peacekeeping efforts and conflicts such as Iraq, observers say.Britain’s military, for example, has 7 100 service members in Afghanistan and 5 500 in Iraq.”We would consider requests to support the United Nations-Africans Mission in Darfur once we receive a formal request to do so,” Britain’s Defence Ministry said yesterday in a statement, adding that it is assisting the existing AU mission in Darfur in areas including logistics and planning.But a spokeswoman at the British foreign office – who spoke on condition of anonymity, in keeping with the ministry’s regulations – said Britain would not send ground forces: “We’re not going to be putting soldiers with guns and tanks in Darfur.”The conflict in Darfur began in February 2003 when ethnic African tribes rebelled against what they considered decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government.Sudan’s government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed – a charge it denies.More than 200 000 people have died, and 2,5 million have been uprooted.The new peacekeeping force will take over from the beleaguered 7 000-strong AU force now in Darfur no later than December 31.The UN said the force, called UNAMID, will have ‘a predominantly African character’, as Sudan demanded.African troops already in Darfur will stay there.Nampa-AP