South African Troops Start for Burundi.
The first South African troops forming part of a peace support mission to Burundi are to leave for that country on Wednesday, the SA National Defence Force said on Tuesday.
They are to be accompanied by Major General Sipho Binda, the first commander of the African Union mission, which would also comprise troops from Mozambique and Ethiopia.
Binda is to command a force of about 3200 soldiers, the SANDF said in a statement.
SANDF spokesman Major Niko Allie said about 1200 of these would be South Africans. They are to be deployed in phases - the last being by the end of May.
Allie could not say when the Mozambican and Ethiopian troops would join the South Africans.
The troops would be tasked with enforcing a series of ceasefire agreements and political settlements.
A total of 751 SANDF members are already deployed in Burundi in a separate United Nations-endorsed VIP protection operation in support of the transitional government.
Last month, Burundi's two main political parties signed a political and security agreement in Pretoria.
A transitional government is to take over in Burundi on May 1 in a bid to end the civil war which has claimed more than 250000 lives since October 1993.
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09 Avril 2003 à 15:10 dans
- zsandf (anglais)
