French Troops to Leave Bunia in September
The Monitor (Kampala)
July 4, 2003
Posted to the web July 4, 2003
Frank Nyakairu
Kampala
The French Army Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Henri Bentegeat, has said that Operation Artemis would not continue beyond September 1, 2003 when the EU mission expires.
"No, we shall not [seek an extension] because the UN will send there troops under Chapter 7 and these troops will have all the means to find a definite solution to the crisis in Ituri," Gen. Bantegeat said yesterday.
Gen. Bantegeat was speaking after a meeting with the Defence Minister, Mr Amama Mbabazi, and the Uganda Army Commander, Maj. Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, at the French Ambassador Mr Jean-Bernard Thiant's house in Kampala.
The general arrived from France on Wednesday on his way to Bunia.
France provides the bulk of the rapid-reaction EU force deployed to secure Bunia town and its airport in eastern DR Congo.
The French troops operate out of Entebbe Airbase.
Meanwhile, the first German troops taking part in the French-led EU peacekeeping force deployed in the Congo flew out of Germany on Wednesday, the Defence ministry said.
The soldiers flew out in a Transall transport aircraft heading for southern France, where they were to load water and food supplies for a rear base in Uganda.
Germany is sending up to 350 troops to Uganda to provide medical and logistical assistance to the EU force until September 1.
The German troops have no mandate to enter the DRC, according a report carried by the AFP.
The German aircraft had not touched down at Entebbe by last evening, but it was said to have stopped over in Djibouti.
"There is information that they have flown to Djibouti," said Capt. Frederic Solano, a spokesman of the French-led EU forces at Entebbe.
