'Deploy more African troops'
2007-07-01 22:59
Accra - The African Union says Somalia's chaos will not end until thousands more troops are deployed in a much-delayed African peacekeeping force.
Opening a three-day AU summit, top diplomat Alpha Oumar Konare also called for accelerated talks between
Somalia's interim government and representatives of the
country's complex clan network and other groups.
"We need to speed up the political dialogue in Somalia,"
Konare said, in reference to a twice-delayed reconciliation
conference now slated for July 17.
He expressed impatience over the slow deployment of a
proposed AU peacekeeping force of 8 000 troops in Somalia.
Somalia is struggling to impose order
Only 1 600 Ugandan soldiers have been sent to Mogadishu
despite pledges at the last AU summit six months ago to boost
the force to at least 4 000. Islamist insurgents stage daily terrorist attacks.
Paying tribute to the Ugandans, who have suffered several
casualties, Konare said: "If there were other troops that joined the Ugandan troops, we would be playing a different role.
"Let us be realistic. Unless and until there is a
strengthening of the African troops, we will have chaos."
Somalia's interim government, the 14th attempt to impose
central government since the 1991 overthrow of a dictator, is
struggling to impose order after ousting Islamists with the help
of Ethiopian troops last Christmas.
Underlining the instability, explosions and gunfire rocked
Mogadishu on Sunday only hours after President Abdullahi Yusuf
promised to stem the insurgency.