Inter-African Force
The Inter-African Force was an African peacekeeping force after the Libyan withdrawal in the Chadian civil war in the wake of the peace negotiations between Goukouni Weddeyes ( GUNT ) and the FROLINAT Hissène Habré in the Nigerian Lagos and Kano under the auspices of the OAU agreed. It finally consisted of 2000 Nigerians , 700 Zairians and 600 Senegalese; the states of the Congo , Benin , Guinea and Togo , which were also originally prepared to intervene , did not participate for various reasons, did not participate to the agreed extent or did so late.
Due to an inexactly formulated mandate and the efforts of the troop-contributing countries to avoid fighting, the peacekeeping forces could not avoid a resurgence of the civil war. Habré experienced a military comeback and was finally able to seize power.
Origin and posting
During the peace negotiations in 1979, the warring parties agreed that the Libyan and French troops should withdraw and be replaced by an African peacekeeping force. Due to a lack of air transport capacities in some sending countries (Benin, Guinea, Togo), third parties were commissioned to do this. Only five countries ( Cameroon , Liberia , Libya, Niger and Sudan) delivered the $ 50,000 stake required by the OAU to fund the operation. In 1979 Nigeria unilaterally sent a peacekeeping force to Chad, which was subsequently mandated by the OAU. At the beginning of 1980, a strengthened Congolese battalion of Algerian transport aircraft was moved to N'Djamena and placed under the command of the Ethiopian frigate captain Dawit Gebre Igzabhier. After fighting resumed, France helped evacuate Congolese troops. Guinea's troops were supposed to be transported by the Nigerian Air Force , but Nigeria refused to perform as long as the French were stationed in Chad and especially at N'Djamena airport .
At the OAU summit in Freetown in July 1980 , a new mission was decided. Again Guinea, Benin, Congo and Togo should send troops. Due to the persistent logistical and financial problems, only Nigeria (with US support), Zaire and Senegal (with French help) finally sent troops.
Result
After the UN-mandated ONUC mission in the Belgian Congo , the Inter-African Force was the OAU's first attempt to find a regional peacekeeping solution. The experiences of this peacekeeping force helped with later regional peace initiatives (e.g. with the ECOMOG ).
literature
- A. Sesay: The limits of peacekeeping by a regional organization: The OAU Peacekeeping Force in Chad in: Conflict Quarterly, Winter 1991.
- Benedikt Franke: A Pan-African army: The evolution of an idea and its eventual realization in the African Standby Force in: African Security Review 15.4, Institute for Security Studies.
- Dr. Adeolu Akande: The Military in African Conflicts, online at http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/idep/unpan002408.pdf
- Eric Berman, Katie E. Sams: Peacekeeping in Africa: Capabilities and Culpabilities, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, 2000.
- Roy May, Simon Massey: The OAU-Interventions in Chad: Mission Impossible or Mission Evaded? in: Internationale Peacekeeping, 5th year, No. 1, spring 1998.
- Nathan Pelcovits: Peacekeeping: The African Experience in: Henry Wiseman: Peacekeeping: Appraisals & Proposals, New York, Pergamon Press 1983.