"The Rwandan troops should be there on August 14," said the official who requested anonymity and was contacted by telephone at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
The pan-African force will consist of 150 Rwandan troops and 150 Nigerian soldiers who will be tasked with protecting an AU team of observers monitoring a ceasefire between Khartoum and Darfur rebels.
In Khartoum, a newspaper quoted the Sudanese ambassador to Ethiopia as saying that the Rwandan troops were due to be airlifted by the Netherlands to the war-torn region on Saturday, to be followed by the Nigerian soldiers later this month.
Ambassador Osman al-Sayyed told the official Al-Anbaa daily that his government was ready to welcome the contingent.
But Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir voiced opposition to a larger peacekeeping deployment after the 53-member AU mulled boosting the force to 2 000 troops. – Sapa-AFP.
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
