Regional emergency force set up

A 5,500-strong rapid-reaction force of East African peacekeepers has been established, leaders from the region announced at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, on Monday. The Eastern Africa Stand-by Brigade, whose headquarters will also be in Addis Ababa, will cost US $2.5 million a year and be ready for deployment by June 2006. "This is critical for peace and stability in our region," Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, whose country is one of 11 contributing to the peacekeeping force, said. "We are still not out of the woods as far as conflict is concerned." Leaders from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan met on Monday to agree a legal and policy framework, as well as the budget for the force. They were also scheduled to inaugurate the headquarters of the new brigade later in the day. Comoros, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, the Seychelles and Uganda are the other countries providing troops for the force, with Sudan and Kenya bearing the largest cost. Meles said the establishment of the force was a "major step forward" in building Africa’s capacity to tackle wars and conflict on the continent. The force will operate under the 53-nation AU, as part of the 15,000-strong African Stand-by Force (ASF), the armed wing of the AU’s Peace and Security Council. Five regions from Africa will contribute to the ASF. "An African stand-by force capable [of] intervention [at] short notice to save human lives and avert destruction to property is a principle we subscribe to and wish to pursue with vigour," Meles said. He spoke of the "unimaginably heinous" 1994 Rwandan genocide, where he said Africa and the international community were "unable to do anything". "This underscores the need for us to move with resolve and speed to establish the mechanisms necessary to prevent such occurrences," he said. "Our vision for economic development, and social progress, for our countries and peoples will remain elusive until we secure peace, security and stability." Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir said an early-warning system was vital for preventing conflicts and called on the AU to "accelerate" the development of such a system. He noted that disparities still existed between the five regions contributing troops to the AU, in "energies and capacities", and said that these must be overcome. "There is a great need to coordinate our efforts with regard to the establishment of the African Stand-by Force," he added. "The efforts for peace and stability are not restricted to the continent. It is a responsibility in which the international community participates." The ASF’s planning headquarters will be in Kenya, with the logistics and brigade headquarters in Addis Ababa. Defence chiefs from the 11 countries have spent the last year drawing up plans for the peacekeeping force. Patrick Mazimhaka, deputy chairman of the AU commission, said immense resources were needed to finance peacekeeping operations in Africa, and support was needed. Attalla Bashir, executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which helped to plan the force, also said "the most serious challenge that is anticipated in building the Eastern Africa Stand-by Brigade is the issue of the availability of financial resources." "To ensure ownership and independence of the mechanism, it has been agreed that member states show the primary responsibility to contribute to the fund," he added.