SA set to withdraw its troops from UN-AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur

NEW YORK: South Africa will pull nearly 800 soldiers from the joint UN-AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur on April 15, a UN spokesman has confirmed.

Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday the UN’s department of peacekeeping had been informed by Pretoria of the impending repatriation of 797 South African soldiers.

“Obviously, we thank South Africa for its support to Unamid (UN-AU Hybrid Operation in Darfur),” Dujarric said.

The spokesman did not give a reason for the withdrawal and did not respond to an inquiry regarding speculation that the South African troops may be headed to join a peacekeeping mission in Burundi if the UN Security Council cre- ates one.

The AU last month abandoned a plan to send 5 000 peacekeepers to the county after fierce opposition to the deployment from Burundi’s embattled government.

Belgium has pledged to send troops to a UN peace mission but prospects that such a force might be set up are uncertain.

Dujarric would not comment on indications the UN might pay for the repatriation of the South African soldiers.

South African troops joined the 20 000 soldiers of the AUUN hybrid force in Darfur in 2008.

The withdrawal of the troops comes after a round of fierce fighting in the Jebel Marra region of Darfur. The central government in Khartoum has been fighting separatists in Darfur for more than a decade amid allegations of genocide.

The government has vowed to wipe out all rebel groups this year. The UN said more than 300 000 Darfurians had been killed in the fighting since it erupted in 2003.

A South African soldier was killed and another wounded last September when they came under attack by rebel militia. – Independent Foreign Service

STEPHANE DUJARRIC