The African Union (AU) Commission said here Saturday that the pan-African organization will deploy some 154 protection forces in Darfur of Sudan on Sunday to protect AU military observers in the conflict area. El Ghssim Wane, acting head of the AU Conflict Management Center, told a press conference that the first protection forces are drawn from Rwanda, and the logistic support provided by the AU already reached Al Fashir, northern Darfur late Saturday.
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Light armament, water, foods and equipment are being shipped to the area for the protection forces, he said, adding that the 154 protection forces will be assigned in six centers to protect the 123 AU military observers there.  "They are there based on the agreement reached by the Sudanese government and rebel movements," Wane said. A report from Kigali said some 150 Rwandan troops left the Rwandan capital for Dafur Saturday. Ghana, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, Senegal and Namibia contributed the 123 military observers for the AU mission in Darfur. Wane also indicated that another 152 professional forces from Nigeria are expected to be deployed in the area on Aug. 25, 2004 for the same operation. Some 2,000 AU troops have been proposed for the Darfur mission by the Nigerian government, however, the proposal is not yet presented to the AU Peace and Security Council.
In a related development, a delegation led by AU Commissioner for Political Affairs Julia Dolly Joiner will go to Sudan on Sunday for a three-day assessment of the humanitarian situation and see how to strengthen the present AU efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the affected population. |