South Sudan wants to commit troops to international UN, AU peacekeeping missions
By Associated Press, Published: August 16
New nation of South Sudan wants to commit troops to international UN, AU peacekeeping missions
JUBA, South Sudan — An army official in South Sudan says the new country wants to contribute troops to United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions.
Army spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said late Monday that the new army will “will be ready to go anywhere” after it transforms itself from the rebel force that used to battle north Sudan and into a conventional army.
The U.N. has peacekeeping missions around the world; the AU has missions in Sudan’s Darfur region and in Somalia. Few African nations have contributed troops to the 9,000-strong AU force in lawless, dangerous Somalia.
Aguer said sending troops to Somalia is not an immediate possibility.
South Sudan voted for independence in January and became a new country July 9.
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South Sudan Army Turns Over A New Leaf By Wanting To Assist Somalia’s Weak Government
AUGUST 17, 2011 08:42 AM
by Cynthia Wright
Soon after joining the African Union, the controversial South Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) went under a complete reconstruction in order to become a more modern and conventional army. Afterwards, the reformed militia plans to contribute to the peacekeeping missions of the United Nations and the African Union. At the same time, an offering such as this can be seen as two-fold being that the offering of troops to peacekeeping missions happens to be a good way for some countries to earn more foreign currency.
Army spokesman Philip Aguer released a statement late on Monday, where he detailed that the SPLA would soon be ready to go anywhere and help out as much as possible.
Even though, the UN has several peacekeeping missions around the world, the AU chips in to handle the missions in Somali and Sudan’s Darfur region. The South Sudan’s army would be a welcome contribution to the AU and Somalia with the SPLA averaging around 180,000 fighters. Yet, Aguer has also stated that the sending of South Sudanese troops is not “an immediate possibility.”
Sadly, for Somalia, that reasoning has been nothing new with few African nations willing to contribute troops to the 9,000 AU force permeating their country. With Somalia being upfront with needing 20,000 troops in order to detain the Islamist, group, al-Shabab, what will happen still remains a mystery.
Being that, Al-Shabab – a devout Islamic group with ties to al-Qaeda currently controls a large portion of south and central Somalia (which happens to include those locations adversely affected by the drought) – the situation is already in dire straits.
At the same time, South Sudan’s foreign officer, Deng Alor Kuol admitted that the new state was more than willing to lend a hand despite what others might think.
“It is part of our responsibility to help our Somali brothers and sisters to achieve peace,” Kuol told the BBC’s Focus on Africa program.
Last year, the UN Security Council approved 12,000 AU troops to enter Somalia, even though the AU specified that they needed 20,000. Even with that, there has been no word on whether that request will ever be fully granted. With Somalia being one of the few countries willing to lend support with Malawi and Nigeria both failing to fulfill obligations due to not wanting to be dragged into the long-standing Somalia and al-Shabab feud. With how it stands today, all the troops deployed in Somalia are made up from citizens of Uganda and Burundi.
Unfortunately, the issues surrounding Somalia seem to be ever growing, being that the country has been without a stable central government since the Siad Barre regime failure in 1991. Now that the country lacks sufficient military care, along with handling a severe famine since June, there appears to be no end in sight.
Cynthia Wright is an avid lover of all things geeky. When she isn’t freelancing, she can be found on her blog BGA Life and on Twitter at @cynisright.
South Sudan opposition leader objects to sending troops to Somalia
Sudan Tribune
August 16, 2011 (JUBA) – The leader of an opposition political party in South Sudan on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction with a senior member of the ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), for proposing that the new country send …
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