Ethiopia troops set to deploy
2003-09-26 17:14
Addis Ababa - More than 1 000 Ethiopian troops packed their bags on Friday in preparation for their long-delayed deployment to Burundi after the money was finally found to finance their peacekeeping mission.
The Ethiopians will be the first of 3 500 peacekeepers promised to Burundi by the African Union. They will join a small contingent of South African troops who have served as security guards for senior politicians and civil servants under a power-sharing agreement reached more than two years ago.
"Ethiopia is committed to paying the necessary sacrifices in discharging the mission entrusted to it by the AU," Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told the troops in a speech at their parade ground on Thursday. They were expected to fly to Burundi on Saturday.
Fighting between Burundi's Tutsi-dominated army and rebels from Hutu majority since 1993 has left more than 200 000 people dead, most of them civilians. While a power-sharing agreement was reached between Tutsi and Hutu political parties, the two main Hutu rebel groups have so far refused to join the peace process.
The Ethiopian troops, along with another battalion from Mozambique, were held up when the African Union couldn't come up with the estimated $25m a year needed for the deployment. The European Union has agreed to finance the operation and US planes will be used to transport the Ethiopian soldiers to Burundi.
The United States has also pledged $6m in supplies to the Ethiopians and Britain has made a similar pledge to Mozambique.
Major Mengistu Feleke, spokesperson at the Ethiopian ministry of defence, said the troops who will be deployed for a year and had undergone vigorous training.
"We now have the resources to go," Mengistu said. "Peace is crucial for development in any country so we are pleased our troops are now heading for Burundi."
The deployment will be the first time Ethiopian troops have participated in a peacekeeping operation since a border war broke out with Eritrea in 1998. In 1995 the Ethiopian government deployed a fully equipped force for a peacekeeping mission in Rwanda.
- SAPA