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British soldiers to join Darfur peace force September 16, 2007, Sunday Telegraph Gethin Chamberlain BRITAIN IS to send military officers to join a peacekeeping force in Darfur, despite fears that the mission may become a target for anti-western jihadist groups. British soldiers are expected to serve in the headquarters of the 26,000-strong United Nations force when it deploys to Sudan, possibly as early as next month, and the UK has also agreed to contribute aircraft and crews to help transport the multi-national force. Sudan had previously warned that it would only accept African troops led by the African Union. The decision to send British personnel comes despite warnings that the UN force is seen as a target for Islamist fighters, possibly including al-Qaeda elements, who may be drawn to the conflict from Iraq and Afghanistan. "There are risks in Sudan of that,'' a senior government source told The Sunday Telegraph. "There are risks of extremists attacking it.'' The intervention is intended to help tackle a crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and driven more than two million from their homes. Britain has warned Sudan that it will not tolerate backsliding on a recent promise to cooperate with the UN force, expected to consist largely of African troops. David Drew, the chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for Sudan, who recently visited the country, said attacks could come from Sudanese radicals or fighters attracted from other countries. "We have it on fairly good authority that the government of Sudan have been stirring it up. They have made it clear that this is an invading army.'' But Gordon Brown said that it would be disastrous if words were not matched by actions on the ground. "It's likely we will provide technical assistance,'' said the Prime Minister. "But it's also likely, because this is an African Union force that is also being put in place, that we will give support to those African countries that are actually contributing to the force.'' Lord Malloch-Brown, the Foreign Office minister, who met Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir last week, said Britain would go it alone with sanctions against the country's ruling elite if necessary. "We would flip to sanctions if this thing is blocked, because we are not going to accept an open-ended continuation of the situation in Darfur,'' he said. British diplomats believe that China's recent withdrawal of support for the Sudanese government has pushed Khartoum to the negotiating table. Officials have been impressed by the effect of US sanctions on the Sudanese government, though they still fear the risk of renewed violence. Last week the UN said it had "grave reports'' of fresh fighting between government and rebel forces in south Darfur. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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