The military operation to oust the rebel leader of the Comoros island of Anjouan was hailed on Friday as a success by the African Union, in dire need of a boost to its conflict-resolution record. The first ever AU-backed plan to remove a renegade leader came after failed negotiations.
A fresh batch of African Union (AU) troops arrived on the Comoros island of Moheli on Friday, joining Comoran forces massed for a military offensive to retake the rebel island of Anjouan. The Indian Ocean archipelago — between Madagascar and Mozambique — did not recognise the re-election of Anjouan leader Colonel Mohamed Bacar in June 2007.
Thousands who fled the conflict in Darfur for safe refuge in Chad are now on the move yet again to escape unstable conditions in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena, shining the spotlight on the African Union’s inability to protect them. Since the AU’s inception in 2002, the pan-African body has lacked funds and leadership.
The African Union met Thursday to encourage member states to put more troops into the Darfur peacekeeping mission approved by the United Nations Security Council. Ambassadors to the pan-African body gathered at its Addis Ababa headquarters to discuss the force, which faces the daunting task of stabilising the war-torn western Sudanese region.
Despite pressure for Sudan to accept a force of 23 000 troops and police, a African Union committee has not approved plans sent by the United Nations. Sudan has been sent an copy of details drawn up recently but a submission cannot happen until the AU’s Peace and Security Committee gives its consent.
So, anyway, I was looking through various websites on the internet, trying to find some concrete information for a talk I had been invited to present on the occasion of the forty-fourth anniversary of Africa Day, May 25 2007. The sacred anniversary had originally been called ”Africa Freedom Day”, when it was dedicated as such at the launch of the then brand-new Organisation of African Unity in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on that date in 1963.
Some of its men have not been paid for four months and, with few helicopters or troop carriers, it has to rely on diplomacy to keep the peace, but the beleaguered African Union force in Darfur insists it is still making a difference. The force has paid a high price for its efforts to stem the violence in Darfur, which has killed at least 200 000 people.
It seems the African Union (AU) is repeating the ”sad past” of the old Organisation for African Unity, particularly with regard to Zimbabwe and Sudan, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has again outwitted President Thabo Mbeki, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the AU, DA foreign affairs spokesman Douglas Gibson said.
No image available
/ 16 January 2006
More than 40 African non-governmental organisations have launched a bid to prevent Sudan from becoming the next chair of the African Union, claiming the move would jeopardise peacekeeping operations in the country’s troubled Darfur region.
No image available
/ 15 November 2005
The head of a labour union confronting the Central African Republic government over its failure to pay its public servants was arrested on Monday over allegations he received ”unwarranted payments”, union officials said. The Central African Republic government, in serious financial straits, is unable to pay its 20 000 public servants.