Concord Times (Freetown)
11 January 2006
Freetown — Responsibility for the protection of the Special Court was formally transferred Sunday from the United Nations Nigerian contingent (NIBATT) to the Mongolian contingent (MONBAT) of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
Special Court Deputy Chief of Public Affairs, Peter Andersen told Concord Times Monday a company of the Mongolian contingent has been designated for the Special Court.
In a brief ceremony in front of the courthouse, Brigadier-General Tommy Goransson, representing UNMIL Force Commander Lieutenant-General C.I. Obiakor of Nigeria, witnessed the handover of the Special Court Military Guard Force to Lieutenant-Colonel Byambasuren Bayarmagnai of Mongolia.
The Officer-in-Charge of the Registry, Joseph Poraj-Wilczynski, noted that various contingents of Nigerian peacekeepers had provided security at the Special Court since 2003, where they have served with professionalism and distinction.
The current Nigerian contingent is headed by Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel J. Ismail, and has been deployed in Freetown for just over a year.
This is the first time in about ten years that Nigerian soldiers have ceased serving in Sierra Leone.
General Tommy Goransson formally hands over to Lieutenant-Colonel Byambasuren Bayarmagnai; observed by NIBATT Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel J. Ismail.
The MONBAT force will be housed both at the Special Court complex in New England and at the U.N. Camp near the U.N. headquarters in Aberdeen. The force will be under the military command of UNMIL headquarters in Liberia.
This is MONBAT's first peacekeeping deployment in West Africa, however individuals of the unit have served in U.N. missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Western Sahara, and Sudan. Other soldiers in the unit have taken part in peace-support missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
MONBAT personnel have attended a month-long training course to prepare them for their duties in Sierra Leone. The contingent will be equipped with heavy weapons and armoured personnel carriers.
The Mongolian contingent will conduct operational exercises with other elements of the UNMIL force, in particular with its Swedish and Irish contingents that are prepared to deploy rapidly by air, land and sea to support MONBAT if required.
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