AngolaPress Tripoli, Libya Feb 28, 2006 reports Libyan leader, Mouammar Kadhafi has reiterated his call on Africa countries to fund the 7,000-strong African peacekeeping mission in Darfur:
"If Africa is unable to provide the funds for those troops, it could become an international issue with the intervention of international forces in Darfur, which would be tantamount to (another) colonisation of Africa," Kadhafi said Sunday at the opening of the People's General Congress of the African Youth.
He said Africans should be ware of the danger posed by the recourse to international forces whenever there was a problem in Africa.
"If we call in UN peacekeepers whenever a crisis breaks out, we are handing the continent over to (foreign) forces. Africa would then become a colony and a protectorate under international trusteeship," the Libyan leader cautioned.
He cited the Horn of Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, the Great Lakes region and southern Sudan as places where international forces had been deployed.
According to Kadhafi, Africa, which currently has 2.250 million soldiers and spends US$14 billion a year on armed forces, does not need international forces or funding to maintain its troops in Darfur.
He also urged African youths to work towards African unity and build a continental force to prevent the return of colonialism and slavery.
More than 1,500 youths representing various civil organisations from across the continent, are attending the three-day meeting.
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"Mouammar Kadhafi has reiterated his call on Africa countries to fund the 7,000-strong African peacekeeping mission in Darfur. . . According to Kadhafi, Africa, which currently has 2.250 million soldiers and spends US$14 billion a year on armed forces, does not need international forces or funding to maintain its troops in Darfur."
Lack of funding for peacekeeping duties, internationally, is a common problem. But perhaps more significantly, sovereign Sudan still refuses the AU force a protection and peacekeeping mandate for Darfur.
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