Russia might send peacekeepers to Sudan
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-04 10:02

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a resolution that would have Russian troops join a proposed U.N. peacekeeping operation in Sudan, the Kremlin said Thursday.

The resolution calls for Russia to send units from the Interior Ministry, which has both police and military forces.

Sudan's government and rebels in the south signed a Jan. 9 peace deal to end the African nation's long-running civil war, setting up a national power-sharing administration with an autonomous south.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with lawmakers in Moscow Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005. Putin has signed a resolution on sending forces that would join a proposed U.N. peacekeeping operation in Sudan, the Kremlin said Thursday. [AP]

The top U.N. envoy to Sudan said late last year that if a peace agreement was reached, he envisioned the U.N. Security Council adopting a resolution in late January authorizing a wide-ranging U.N. peacekeeping mission with up to 10,000 troops. That resolution was delayed.

While Russia's military recently announced plans for a new unit fully dedicated to peacekeeping operations, Moscow has curtailed its participation in such operations abroad in the past few years, citing financial concerns.

The final contingent of Russian forces left Kosovo in 2003 after four years of peacekeeping in the Balkans.

In a second action related to African conflicts, Putin signed a decree Thursday prohibiting the sale of arms and ammunition to Ivory Coast in order to abide by a weapons embargo imposed by the United Nations in November.

Close

Today's Top News     Top World News
US knocked for trying to block EU arms ban end         Private enterprises expanding quickly         Auto imports on sound footing         Homeward-bound told to travel light         Bombings, arson and rape cases on the dive         Plane with 96 on board missing in Afghanistan	Plane with 96 on board missing in Afghanistan       Iran condemns Bush speech on terrorism       Shiite leads Iraq vote; 3 marines killed       Annan vows action against UN staff in Iraq program       Rumsfeld says he offered to resign twice       900 Palestinian prisoners to gain freedom