S. Africa to Send Armed Soldiers to Congo in Peace MissionArmed soldiers will form part of a South African peacekeeping mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Business Day newspaper reported on Wednesday, December 13.When the cabinet initially approved South Africa's participation in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the DRC, the planned contingent did not included armed soldiers, Defense Force Chief General Siphiwe Nyanda was quoted as saying on Tuesday. Nyanda disclosed that the South African National Defense Force' s (SANDF's) plenary defense staff council recently had given a mandate for the inclusion of armed soldiers, saying the belligerents would be responsible for policing peace, which would be monitored by the UN mission. The defense chief said his country shares the view of many of its neighbors that the creation of a standing peacekeeping force in the region is desirable and practicably feasible. "It is far more likely that the Southern African Development Community countries will engage in ad-hoc peace support operations as the need arises," Nyanda told a Human Science Research Council meeting in Johannesburg on Tuesday. South Africa's foreign policy contains key principles essential to the conduct of peacekeeping in Africa, Nyanda said, adding that these are a commitment to the promotion of human rights, democracy, justice and international law. There should be a relationship between national and regional security in southern Africa, he said, stressing "Peaceful relations must be pursued with southern African states." But he called for provision of protection to the South African soldiers to be dispatched to the DRC, saying "there is no way we can deploy our people without a protection element." |
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