UNAMID Forces Arrive in Darfur

(BuaNews)-Chinese and Bangladeshi units that will form part of the hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur (UNAMID) have arrived in the war-torn Sudanese region to help in the transition from the existing AU peace operation (AMIS).

At the weekend 135 troops from a Chinese engineering company that will eventually number 315 arrived in Nyala, the capital of the South Darfur state, to begin their deployment, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York on Tuesday.

The advance Chinese troops are part of the UN’s support package to AMIS and will help pave the way for the deployment of UNAMID by undertaking work critical to the establishment of the hybrid mission, Ms Montas added.

A separate Bangladeshi Formed Police Unit (FPU) also arrived in Nyala late last week to begin work supporting AMIS.

UNAMID, which is due to take over from AMIS at the start of next year, will have an estimated 26 000 troops and police officers when it reaches full deployment.

They are tasked with trying to quell the violence and suffering in Darfur, where more than 200 000 people have been killed and at least 2.2 million others displaced since rebel groups began fighting government forces and allied militia in 2003.

The AU-UN Joint Special Representative, Rodolphe Adada, visited both new units on Sunday after earlier holding meetings with Ali Mahmoud, the Governor of South Darfur.

The two men discussed the security situation inside the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

In a press statement, Mr Adada said that he and the governor agreed that arms inside the Kalma camp posed a threat not only to other IDPs but to humanitarian workers trying to deliver assistance.

Meanwhile, the UN and AU Chief Mediators for Darfur, Tay,-Brook Zerihoun and Sam Ibok, are heading to Juba, south Sudan, Tuesday for further discussions with Darfur rebel groups based there and with members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Task Force for the Darfur Peace Process.

The mediators are scheduled to travel to Darfur itself next week to hold consultations with the leadership of one of the region’s many rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

Last week, South Africa called on the world’s major military powers, including the United States, the European Union, China and Russia, to provide vital military equipment to the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur.

Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad made the call on Tuesday as he briefed reporters on key international developments.

South Africa is likely to agree to the "blue-hatting" of a battalion of its troops in the region, and may also assist with equipment where it can.

Mr Pahad said it was his view that this assistance would be approved by Cabinet, but called also on developed countries to assist with equipment, which includes a number of helicopters needed to cover the vast area in the west of Sudan.

"The key challenge is that the developed countries must move decisively to provide the equipment that is needed, and it’s only those with major military equipment - and that includes Russia, it includes China, includes the USA and includes some of the EU [European Union] countries," he said.

The UN had asked South Africa to provide a battalion, 800 troops, to shore up the hybrid UN-AU force in Darfur, Mr Pahad said.

Countries concerned about the tremendous suffering being inflicted on people of the region need to put their money where their mouths are, he said.

"We can’t continue to say there’s a major crisis in Darfur and then we are slow in making the commitments and equipment [available]," he said.

He also said that recent reports pointed to intensifying violence in the area, and said that further attention to resolving the conflict in the region was needed as a matter of urgency.

Earlier this month, President Thabo Mbeki expressed concern that international donors who had pledged millions of dollars towards the reconstruction of the war-ravaged southern region have not yet been forthcoming with commitments made at a key donor conference held two years ago.

President Mbeki was speaking to reporters during a two-day state visit to South Africa by Sudanese President Omer Hassan Ahmed El-Bashir earlier this month.

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