Medvedev orders Russian troops out of South Sudan
* Article
* Comments (37)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
*
*
*
*
January 24, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Russian president Dmitry Medvedev
issued a decree on Tuesday ordering his country’s troops to withdraw
from the newly established nation of South Sudan who were serving with
the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
JPEG - 31.4 kb
Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev (Reuters)
According to the Kremlin website the Russian soldiers and helicopters
are to withdraw from South Sudan by April 1st after “honorably”
fulfilling the tasks of maintaining peace and security in the country.
Russia had eight helicopters and 120 personnel servicing the UNMIS
which was disbanded in accordance with United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) resolution 1997 adopted last July.
The resolution ordered the UN Secretary General to transfer
appropriate staff and supplies, including “the logistics necessary for
achieving the new scope of functions to be performed”, from United
Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) to UNMISS and the United Nations
Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), which the Council created
on 27 June to monitor the withdrawal of Northern and Southern troops
from the disputed region between the two sides.
Russian helicopter were used to transport UN personnel and materials
as well as participate in search and rescue operations.
Today’s decision comes almost a week after the Russian Deputy Foreign
Minister Gennady Gatilov said that his country is likely to withdraw
its remaining military helicopters from South Sudan in response to
security challenges.
"There is a likelihood that our unit will be withdrawn," Russia’s RIA
Novosti news agency quoted Gatilov as saying. He said Moscow had
repeatedly asked the UN Secretariat and the South Sudan authorities to
take measures to ensure the Russians’ security.
After its utility helicopters were attacked by South Sudanese security
forces last autumn, Russia decided in December to withdraw four of
them.
South Sudan’s government has apologized to Russia for the attacks on
its helicopters last year and vowed to take steps to ensure there were
no new attacks on Russian aircraft by South Sudanese.
South Sudan seceded from the Arab-Muslim dominated north in July 2011
but has been battling with insurgencies and tribal clashes that have
cast doubts over the ability of Juba to maintain security in the
newborn state.
On Sunday, Russia announced that one of its pilots has been freed
along with other crew members who were detained last month while
loading cargo in the town of Sarjas in South Sudan and held in a
military camp there.
The withdrawal of the helicopters will deal a huge blow to UNMISS
which UN officials say are crucial to providing mobility to
peacekeepers deployed there.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"South Sudan Info - The Kob" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
