CAIRO: Egypt has decided to send around 2,100 troops and personnel to join a UN-AU (African Union) peacekeeping force in Darfur, which should number 26,000 troops in total.
The deployment of the new peacekeeping force is being sped up as the current AU-only force has failed to counter the violence, which has seen 200,000 killed and 2.5 million displaced in the past four and a half years.
The decision to send Egyptian military personnel “stems from the vision of the importance of Darfur for the security of Egypt, Sudan expert at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies Hani Raslan told Daily News Egypt.
Darfur’s importance for Egyptian security has increased since “the conflict developed regional and international implications, Raslan added, “and an area where fighting is taking place to further different agendas.
Therefore, “Egypt is sending troops to ensure a presence in Darfur while maintaining the unity of Sudan, which is in Egypt’s best interests, he said.
Egypt’s delegate to the UN Maged Abdel-Fatah said, “Egypt offered to provide the force with more than 2,100 soldiers, policemen, and observers, a step that reflects President [Hosni] Mubarak s interest in maintaining stability in this Sudanese province, Reuters reported.
An Egyptian diplomat, offering a higher number, told AFP that “the 2,500-strong force will be made up of two mechanised infantry battalions, an engineering company, a transportation company, a signal company as well as a field hospital, three police units and a large number of military observers.
Additionally, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “has welcomed the Egyptian offer to send troops to Darfur and has conveyed the message to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit directly in New York, the diplomat said.
Khartoum was initially against a foreign intervention force in Darfur, but softened its stance when a proposal was made to create a joint UN-AU peacekeeping force which would be mainly made up of African troops.
According to Raslan, once the force is deployed, it will be the largest foreign troop presence on a sovereign country in the world outside of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He added: “The philosophy of this force is a peacekeeping one and to maintain the Abuja agreement.
Since more rebel groups have come into the picture, the agreement has been riddled with so many problems “to the extent that the Sudanese government has reopened talks with rebel groups.
These problems will make the peacekeeping force’s mandate more difficult, Raslan said.
Ever since the Abuja agreement was signed in 2006 between three rebel groups and the government, the continued fighting has seen the number of rebel groups climb to 15.
Talks are due to take place between the government and splinter groups in Tripoli on Oct. 27 so that an agreement can be ironed out before the troops are deployed.
“If an agreement isn’t reached, Raslan said, “then these troops will become part of the problem, not the solution. The next period is important and sensitive.
“It is impossible to negotiate with every rebel group alone. So the intention is to unite all the rebel groups in the negotiation process, represented by the same group, he said.
