Conference on peacekeeping opens

A three-day conference on how to manage future peacekeeping operations in Africa opened on Thursday in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria. Some 20 delegates from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ghana as well as representatives from European think-tanks and international organisations, listened to an opening address from South Africa’s army chief Lieutenant-General Gilbert Ramano, who warned that Africa has emerged as one of the “most dangerous environments in the world” for troops intervening in the name of peace. “But the time is right for broad international dialogue on intervention which will lead to a clearer understanding of how to share the burden of peacekeeping on the African continent,” he said. The conference takes place against a background of increasing discord among Southern African nations as to the scale and timing of any deployment by South African peacekeepers to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Regional security analysts told IRIN expectations that South Africa will carry the giant’s share of peacekeeping responsibilities in the DRC are high, but South Africa has insisted that any planned mission must take place under UN auspices.