Chinwe Ochu
28 October 2009
Midrand — Twenty six thousand troops have been deployed to Sudan in a bid to restore order to the crisis-ridden country and aid in the integration of African states through conflict- resolution.
This number is reported to be the largest single ever deployed by the United Nations.
Chairman of the African Union and President of the Pan- African Parliament, Mr. Jean Ping, said this yesterday while addressing the press after the First Ordinary Session of the Pan- African Parliament in Midrand, South Africa.
According to him, the decision to position the huge number of troops was informed by the desire to prevent the killings, and keep the peace objectives, which he said have almost been achieved.
Ping, who said although the international community would not want to hear the good news of a drastic decrease in the conflict rate, urged the warring parties to dialogue, since the crisis, according to him, "cannot be solved militarily but politically."
"We have almost achieved this result. This is something people would not want to hear- that the crisis in Sudan is now a low- voltage crisis. But, it is true. Apart from the few attacks, the number of killings in that country has reduced.
"The problem of Sudan cannot be solved militarily but politically, because the rebels and the government must dialogue to come to a compromise. We (African Union) must restore peace and trust in that country. Although there are other problems of injustice, justice must be rendered. The United Nations Security Council and the African Union must work hand in hand to restore relative order to Sudan."
On the Somalia unrest, he said, "we want to sort out thecrisis in Somalia. We are going to ask the African Union for help and when we do that, it shows that we are weak. Although we regret that, it is normal. Even the UN does that. When they lack troops, they call on member- states to help and it is done."
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