Ethiopia
has pledged to contribute five thousand troops to a future
United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission for Darfur.
The 26,000-strong joint mission is to replace existing AU force.
Ethiopia’s pledge comes just days after rebels in Darfur killed
ten AU peacekeepers, including nine Nigerians, during an attack
in which seven others were seriously wounded, prompting a new
call for Western nations to pledge troops and equipment to the
joint U.N.-AU mission due to take over in January.
"Ethiopia is ready, the troops are equipped, and we are waiting
for a request from the AU and the United Nations to disperse the
troops to Darfur," Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in
Addis Ababa.
International elder statesmen including two Nobel Peace Prize
winners said Darfur was rife with violence and deeply divided,
after returning from the Sudanese region.
The group, including Nobel laureates former U.S. President Jimmy
Carter and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said rape was
widespread and ignored by the Sudanese authorities. They also
urged Khartoum to hand over war crimes suspects for trial at the
International Criminal Court.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for
a junior government minister and allied militia leader accused
of colluding in war crimes in Darfur. Khartoum refuses to hand
them over.
It is estimated that about 200,000 people have died in Darfur,
with 2.5 million displaced, and sparking the world's largest
humanitarian operation.
REU/MIA
