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AU summit 'to boost its image'
29/01/2008 20:13 - (SA)
Emmanuel Goujon
Addis Ababa - The African Union starts a heads of state summit here on Thursday, seeking to bolster the organisation's capacity to solve conflicts such as the crises in Darfur and Somalia.
Since its inception in 2002, the pan-African body has lacked the funds and political drive to take effective action on the continent's flashpoints.
It intervened in 2004 in the strife-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur, but relinquished leadership to the United Nations to form a joint peacekeeping force.
The AU also dispatched a force to Somalia and has missions in Burundi and the Comoros.
AU spokesperson Assane Ba said: "We want to give a meaning to Africa solidarity. This was why, every time there was a crisis in Africa, we took the lead.
"The AU cannot allow crises and wars to spiral out of control without intervening because behind all these deaths tolls, figures on displaced and refugees, you have people, Africans, who are suffering and are simply trying to survive," he said.
Lack of funds, equipment
The African Mission in Sudan (Amis) deployed in August 2004 was the first time the continental body had succeeded in imposing a military deployment on the soil of one of its member states.
But, the force has suffered from a lack of funds and equipment, its 7 000-plus troops have been paid intermittently and been unable to make a serious impact.
Darfur is a territory roughly the size of France and fighting between government forces backed by militia and a myriad of rebel factions has continued unabated.
The new joint force approved by the United Nations will consist of 26 000 personnel, but fewer than 10 000 are there.
Not a popular idea
African Union peace and security commissioner Said Djinnit said he was trying to obtain guarantees for "a closer co-ordination with the UN through Chapter 8".
The UN charter's Chapter 8 says the world body can lean on regional organisations to solve conflicts and still provide funding to the operation.
One Addis-based African diplomat said: "This idea is not popular with the UN Security Council's permanent members, who argue that they should lead the peace operations they finance."
In Somalia, the African Union finds itself in an equally uncomfortable position, having pledged 8 000 peacekeeping troops in 2006 to stabilise the restive Horn of Africa country.
So far, fewer than 2 000 have arrived, with Burundi only recently sending troops to support the 1 600-strong Ugandan contingent which deployed in early 2007.
The force is generally considered to have performed well in a number of specific duties, although it has been unable to quell the fighting pitting Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces against Islamist insurgents.
The AU has asked that the United Nations take over, but UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is expected in Addis Ababa, has consistently ruled out the option.
For Timur Goksel, a former spokesperson for the UN mission in south Lebanon and a lecturer in international relations and peacekeeping issues at the American University in Beirut, the immediate future of African peacekeeping is bleak.
Useful in small conflicts
"There are very few armies in Africa who can take on the big jobs... These contingents know the continent, but they lack experience, the chain of command is not effective and there often are conflicts of interests." he said.
"I think they can be useful in small conflicts, such as the Comoros for example, but I don't think they can be effective in the major ones," he said.
Three hundred Tanzanian troops are stationed in the Comoros as part of the AU's mission in the Indian Ocean archipelago, where the rebel island of Anjouan is defying the federation's central authority.
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