Sri Lankan troops to leave for UN peacekeeping job in Haiti

COLOMBO: Some 750 Sri Lankan troops who are joining UN peacekeeping operations in Haiti will leave on Saturday on the country’s first major overseas assignment, the defence ministry said on Tuesday. The military has arranged a send-off ceremony at the only international airport, the ministry said. The soldiers will be rotated every four months. A UN peacekeeping mission with a maximum strength of 6,700 soldiers and 1,622 civilian police took over in Haiti in June to help restore stability after the ousting of president Jean Bertrand Aristide in February. The Haiti deployment is the Sri Lankan army’s first major overseas assignment. The French embassy conducted classes in conversational French for the troopers before their deployment. Sri Lankan troops who were locked in combat with Tamil Tiger rebels for the past three decades have been observing a truce since February 2002. More than 60,000 people have died in the Tamil separatist conflict since 1972. afp

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