Rwanda: April 23, 2003

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South African Major General Sipho Binda, commander of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force for Burundi, and his staff of 20 are heading for Bujumbura. South Africa, Mozambique and Ethiopia are supposed to contribute 1,800, 200 and 1,000 troops, respectively to the peace-keeping force, but uncertainty about funding could delay the troops deployment. Each country is expected to finance its own soldiers for the first two months, but both Mozambique and Ethiopia have shown reluctance to foot this bill. South Africa may end up being the only country to send troops (probably a motorized infantry battalion). This happened about six months ago when four countries were committed to sending forces to Burundi, but only the South African government honored this agreement. - Adam Geibel