SA commits troops to Burundi
27 February 2007
South Africa is to contribute 1 100 troops to the African Union's special task force in Burundi, following the return two weeks ago of an 800-strong battalion that served with the United Nations mission in Burundi.
The African Union task force took over in Burundi when the UN's mandate came to an end on 31 December.
Addressing the media in Cape Town last Thursday, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said Burundi had asked South Africa to mediate peace talks between the government and Palipehutu-FNL, the last rebel movement that is not part of the Arusha Agreement Accord of 2000.
South Africa is also in talks with the government of Burundi for a post-conflict reconstruction and development partnership.
South Africa troops are currently deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan. The country is also participating in African Union post-conflict initiatives in Ivory Coast.
South Africa's Treasury has budgeted R388-million for diplomatic and peacekeeping initiatives in Africa in 2007/08.
In his State of the Nation address earlier this month, President Thabo Mbeki said South Africa would keep working for peace, stability, social development and economic reconstruction in conflict zones on the continent.
"Among the greatest achievements of the peoples of Africa in the past two-and-a-half years has been the restoration of peace in the Great Lakes Region."
Mbeki said South Africa would not be sending peacekeeping troops to Somalia due to its commitments elsewhere on the continent, but would provide logistical and technical support as well as aid.
"Critical in this regard are the initiatives under way to ensure that the protagonists within Somalia interact with one another to find a solution that is inclusive and practicable, based on the need to achieve national reconciliation," Mbeki said.
Source: BuaNews
