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Stabilising Somalia 'impossible'
24/01/2007 10:45 - (SA)
London - An opportunity to foster stability in Somalia after years of war is "being squandered", says the deputy chairperson of the African Union.
It was reported that Patrick Mazimhaka said that there had not yet been any clear commitment from a non-African country to help fund the nearly 8 000-strong mission due for Somalia.
Mazimhaka was quoted as saying: "With every day that passes without a clear commitment to help the AU in Somalia, an opportunity is being squandered."
Mazimhaka emphasised the importance of getting peacekeepers on the ground in Somalia as soon as possible. He said: "African countries do not consider it necessary to have a place stabilised and then send in troops. You send the troops first to create the right atmosphere for peace."
Deployment of 8 000 troops
The AU's top security body agreed on the immediate deployment of nearly 8 000 peacekeepers as part of African Mission to Somalia (AMISOM).
According to AU, an initial deployment of more than 2 500 troops - one-third the projected deployment - would be dispatched immediately, mandated for an initial six-month period.
The 7&nbps;600-strong force should later assume a UN mandate, which would work towards long-term reconstruction in the country, where the weak transitional federal government in December got Ethiopian military support to oust Islamists from Mogadishu and the south.
However, only two countries, Malawi and Uganda, had so far pledged to provide troops.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian troops on Tuesday began pulling out of Mogadishu despite fears of a security vacuum in the still largely lawless Somali capital, nearly four weeks after they helped oust hardline Islamists.
- AFP
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