MALAWI: UN peacekeeping troops warned on AIDS

Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika has warned troops preparing to join a UN peacekeeping mission in Congo against the dangers of HIV infection.

According to the Associated Press, a contingent of 110 Malawian soldiers left on Monday for the Democratic Republic of Congo to defend the UN headquarters in the central city of Kisangani, ahead of a constitutional referendum later this year to pave the way for presidential elections in 2006.

Mutharika instructed troops at a farewell parade in the capital, Lilongwe, to keep up the "good image" of the Malawi Defence Force in Africa, and refrain from risky sexual behaviour.

Sub-Saharan Africa is at the epicentre of the global AIDS pandemic, and an estimated 14 percent of Malawi's 11 million people are living with HI virus.

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[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]