UN peacekeepers may head to Somalia

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WORLD / Africa

UN peacekeepers may head to Somalia

(agencies)
Updated: 2007-08-14 10:55

UNITED NATIONS -- Britain is proposing the United Nations start planning
for the possible deployment of UN peacekeepers to take over for an
African Union force struggling to keep the peace in war-torn Somalia,
according to a draft Security Council resolution circulated Monday.

Somali government soldiers stand guard on the southern outskirts of
Mogadishu, August 12, 2007. [Reuters]

The UN has come under increasing pressure from the African Union and
Somalia's transitional government to deploy a well-equipped force to
Somalia, which has been mired in chaos since 1991 when warlords
overthrew?the country leader?Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned against
one another.

The AU's Peace and Security Council agreed last month to extend the
mandate of its force in Somalia for six months and called for the UN to
deploy a peacekeeping operation that will support the country's long-term
stabilization.

AU chairman Alpha Oumar Konare followed up with a letter this month to
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council pushing for the
deployment of UN troops to replace the AU force.

The UN's authorization for the AU force in Somalia expires on Aug. 20.
Britain's draft resolution would also extend that mandate for another six
months.

Francois Lonseny Fall, Ban's special representative to Somalia, told
reporters after briefing the council Monday that the AU's expectation is
that a UN force will replace the AU troops at the end of the six months.

Key Security Council countries have said, however, that there must be a
peace to keep before UN troops are sent to Somalia.

The Republic of Congo's deputy ambassador, Pascal Gayama, countered that
"the Security Council has to move when there is no peace."

"When people are saying that there should be peace first and then the UN
comes, it's really a nonsense in my view," he said.

The draft resolution asks the secretary-general to start developing plans
for the possible deployment of a UN force by contacting potential troop
contributing countries and identifying what actions the UN and the
international community should take to create the conditions for a
successful UN peacekeeping operation.

Uganda currently has about 1,700 troops in Somalia and is meant to be the
vanguard of a larger AU peacekeeping force that is expected to have 8,000
troops.

Fall said the deployment of 1,500 troops from Burundi has been delayed
because of the lack of funds and logistical help. Troops are also
expected from Nigeria and Ghana, he said.

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