South African contingent to Sudan - African union
During a session of the South African Parliament Defence Portfolio Committee on 28 February, some officers from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) disclosed some details of South African military engagement in Darfur (Sudan) as part of the Cordite operation sponsored by the African Union (AU). It is planned to deploy 10 South African observers to supervise the respect of the cease-fire. The other South African forces in Darfur will comprise infantry and support staff to provide protection for the observers. These soldiers, around 300 in number, will mainly be located in Kutum, but two of the five South African platoons will be installed in Mellit, which will be the headquarters of the Military Observer Group.
The Sudanese government requires that all of these servicemen have a passport, which is unusual in the case of United Nations operations, but the AU is hesitant to renegotiate this point with the government of Khartoum, wary that it uses the excuse to close the door to any outside intervention in Darfur. A medical team will accompany the South African soldiers and the SANDF has contracted SOS International for the supply of means of repatriating the soldiers in the event of illness or accidents. The defence structures for the South African billeting in Kutum will be built by South African Engineers and satellite communication will be used to provide the link between Kutum and Pretoria.
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05 Mars 2005 à 10:39 dans
- zsandf (anglais)
