Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09OUAGADOUGOU631
2009-08-10 14:19:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ouagadougou
Cable title:  

BURKINA FASO: DEPLOYMENT OF FIRST PKO TROOPS TO

Tags:  PREL PGOV KPKO MASS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8797
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHOU #0631 2221419
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101419Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5282
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY
UNCLAS OUAGADOUGOU 000631 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO MASS
SUBJECT: BURKINA FASO: DEPLOYMENT OF FIRST PKO TROOPS TO
DARFUR

UNCLAS OUAGADOUGOU 000631

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO MASS
SUBJECT: BURKINA FASO: DEPLOYMENT OF FIRST PKO TROOPS TO
DARFUR


1. (U) SUMMARY: On August 4 Burkina Faso's PKO contingent
departed Ouagadougou in route to Darfur. Trained under the
ACOTA program, one hundred and thirty four troops boarded a
United Nations chartered plane headed for Nyala (South Darfur
state) to begin the preparatory stage of their six month long
mission. A second contingent will follow on August 11, and
the final troop deployment is scheduled to occur in
late-September, bringing the total number of Burkinabe
peacekeepers in Darfur to 800. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Burkina Faso, an ACOTA training beneficiary, is
participating in its first large-scale UN-PKO mission under
the hybrid African Union/ United Nations Mission In Darfur
(UNAMID) program. Eight hundred troops belonging to the Laafi
battalion are scheduled to arrive in Sudan in late September
or October. The Battalion will rotate-out with another ACOTA
trained Burkinabe battalion (also referred to as Laafi) every
six months. The 134 man early-August deployment is the first
of three major troop movements from Ouagadougou to Darfur.
The second troop movement is scheduled to take place on
August 11, and the final movement of about 500 troops should
take place September/October and will requires several plane
rotations. The Burkinabe troops will be stationed in two
places, El Geneina and Foro Bagna in West Darfur. The 800
Burkinabe PKO troops will bring the total of UNAMID personnel
on the ground to 13,651 (Note: Among the troops flown to
Nyala on August four were two women. End Note.)


3. (SBU) The Laafi battalion was summoned to Camp Kamboincin
(near Ouagadougou) on August 1 to conclude preparations for
the deployment (visas, vaccinations, checking of equipment.)
At 1.00 a.m. on August 4, 134 troops and military officials
assembled on the tarmac of Ouagadougou International Airport
readying for 4.00 a.m. special UN flight (UNO #152) headed
for Darfur. Once on the ground in Nyala, a helicopter shuttle
service would start to bring troops to El Geneina. The first
thirty-five troops were moved on August 4, and the rest on
August 5. ACOTA trainers who assisted in the deployment said
that despite a four minute delay in boarding the plane, the
overall troop and baggage movement had gone very smoothly.
The trainers told Embassy officials that moral was high and
that the troops were eager to commence their mission. For
many, this was their first time leaving Burkinabe territory
and for most their first time riding in a plane. The
Battalion Commander, Colonel Traore left by commercial air
craft earlier in the week so he could welcome his troops when
they touched down in Nyala on August 4.


4. (SBU) Earlier, the Chief of Defense LG Dominique
Djendjere told the troops that they were pioneers for Burkina
Faso: "All of Burkina Faso, the international community and
more than anyone, the host country (Sudan) have their eyes
riveted on you" he said. His ultimate recommendations to the
troops were three-fold: Watch your behavior and your
attitudes while in the theater of operations, as Ambassadors
of Burkina Faso, you must measure your words and your
opinions while abroad, and finally you are the image of
Burkina Faso abroad, while in private or out in public behave
accordingly.


5. (SBU) COMMENT: Despite the smooth deployment of troops
from Ouagadougou to Nyala, equipment required to set up the
two base camps was not deploying with equal ease. After a
late order and an even later delivery, some key supplies,
such as sewage pipe tubing and electrical cabling had missed
the container departure from Tema (Ghana) port in April and
hence would have to be transported by the Burkinabe to Nyala
at a later day. It is unclear what impact this would have on
the set up of the camps. The Burkinabe told us that they
were planning on setting up a "channel flight" between Nyala
and Ouagadougou every 30-45 days. END COMMENT.
LAEUCHLI