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 
 
¶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