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SUDAN TO RECEIVE 2000 TROOPS FROM RUSSIA December 22, 2005
Apunyu Bonny
(SomaliNet) President Vladimir Putin proposed on Wednesday 21st to send 200 troops to join UN peacekeepers in southern Sudan in a move that would almost double the size of Russia's military missions outside the ex-Soviet Union. Reports Aol news.
Putin sent a letter to the Federation Council upper house of parliament, a compliant body that invariably backs the Kremlin, asking for formal permission to deploy the troops.
"The Secretary General of the United Nations appealed with a request to send a military formation of the Russian Federation's Armed Forces for participation in the UN operation to maintain the peace in Sudan," said a Kremlin statement.
"The strength of the contingent assigned for participation in the peacekeeping operation will be up to 200 servicemen," it said, adding that Russia would send four transport helicopters with full crews.