Africa mulls regional rapid response force in November
16/9/2008 18:18
African military chiefs are meeting in Nairobi this week to finalize plans
of setting up a regional rapid response force to avert conflicts across the
region.
The East African Chiefs of Defense Staff Meeting which drew military
chiefs from 12 states called on regional governments to support the Eastern
Africa Standby Brigade to deal with conflicts in Sudan, northern Uganda,
Eritrea, Ethiopia and other trouble spots.
The military commanders whose
meeting opened in Nairobi late yesterday hinted at setting up a regional
military force in two months and ready for deployment in clash-hit countries in
eastern Africa.
Kenya's Vice-chief of the General Staff, Lt- Gen Julius
Karangi, who officially opened yesterday's meeting, told participants to
accelerate the process.
"Africa, as a whole, is greatly affected by these
diverse protracted conflicts. We are, therefore, duty-bound to develop the
capacity to intervene," he said.
The military chiefs are meeting to prepare a
common guide for soldiers who would be seconded to the force.
Lt-Gen Karangi
also noted that eastern Africa suffered protracted insurgencies and wrangles
over territorial boundaries.
"It's a cause for concern and must galvanize us
to nurture the capacity to deal with the various conflict scenarios at the
earliest possible state of their cycle."
The commanders cited Somalia as
requiring immediate intervention to restore peace when the brigade is
formed.
Once established, the mission will consist of at least 6,500 soldiers
supported by 1,000 police officers and 1,000 civilians. The number is below the
estimated 30,000 troops needed to sustain peace in the region, with at least six
countries embroiled in armed conflicts.
The region is on schedule, according
to the African Union road map which stipulates that it should be capable of
intervening and restoring peace in all trouble spots by 2010.
The force, to
be known as the Eastern Africa Stand-by Brigade ( EASBRIG), has its coordination
personnel based in Nairobi.
The EASBRIG is meant to encourage Africans to
deal with crises on their own continent, where the AU will have the authority to
intervene in border wars and internal conflicts.
The EASBRIG will have a
Police wing, an air unit, a civilian wing and a water unit, all needed to ramp
up Africa's preparedness to combat insecurity and political instability within
the continent.
The various units of the force are expected to be tested for
their readiness for combat in November 2009 ahead of its initial deployment in
2010.
The African Union is expected to harmonize the five regional brigades
to make it easy for troops get deployed to any country faced with conflict or a
disaster.
The continent has standby brigades in each of the continent's five
regions-- Eastern, Southern, Western, Northern and Central -- and comprises four
light infantry battalions, each with 750 personnel and 70 vehicles and a
military observer unit with 120 officers.
The force is chartered with a
peace-building and humanitarian mission and could intervene unilaterally in the
event of "war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, as well as a
serious threat to legitimate order."
Xinhua
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