Somalia: SA to decide on troops
24/01/2007 15:34  - (SA)  

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Pretoria - South Africa will decide before the end of the week whether or not to send troops to Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping mission in that country, says deputy foreign affairs minister Aziz Pahad.

He said the issue was being discussed at the cabinet lekgotla being held at the presidential guesthouse in Pretoria.

Pahad said: "We briefed the cabinet about the situation in Somalia and the Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota will in the next day or two advise the president about our capacity and already stretched commitments."

He said President Thabo Mbeki was expected to take a decision about the matter before the end of the week.

Deployment of 8 000 troops

Patrick Mazimhaka, the deputy chairperson of the AU, said that an opportunity to foster stability in Somalia after years of war was being squandered.

This came as Ethiopian troops who assisted the transitional government in December in ousting the Islamic courts from the capital, Mogadishu, and much of the rest of Southern Somalia, started withdrawing from the country, causing fears of a security vacuum.

Mazimhaka said: "With every day that passes without a clear commitment to help the AU in Somalia, an opportunity is being squandered."

The AU peace and security council agreed to the deployment of the nearly 8 000 troops as part of the African Mission to Somalia (AMISON).

Only two countries, Malawi and Uganda, had so far pledged to provide troops for the mission.

- SAPA

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