Presidents discuss peacekeeping

2009-05-28 18:11

Kampala - Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza was due to arrive in Uganda on Thursday to hold talks on maintaining the nations' joint peacekeeping mission in conflict-ridden Somalia.

Nkurunziza and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will discuss the recent UN resolution extending the mandate of the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia (AMISOM) until January 31 2010, the permanent secretary in the Ugandan Foreign Ministry, James Mugume, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Islamist insurgents

Some 4 300 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi have been propping up Somalia's embattled transitional government, which is coming under increasingly fierce attack from Islamist insurgents.

AMISOM was originally supposed to consist of 8 000 troops, but only Uganda and Burundi have supplied forces so far.

Fierce fighting has engulfed Mogadishu since early May as Islamist insurgent groups al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam push to topple the government of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist who once worked alongside the insurgents.

Over 200 people, the majority of them civilians, have died and almost 70 000 have fled north Mogadishu during the same period.

AU calls for sanctions

The new president came to power earlier this year as part of a UN-backed peace process. However, his government controls only sections of Mogadishu, while the insurgents hold sway across much of southern and central Somalia.

The insurgency, which began after Ethiopian forces invaded in late 2006 to kick out the ICU, has claimed the lives of over 17 000 people, mainly civilians. Ethiopia pulled out in January this year.

Ethiopia's long-term foe Eritrea has been accused of arming the insurgents. The AU and other bodies have called for sanctions against Eritrea, and Mugume said this would be on the meeting's agenda.

"The two are also likely to talk about the issue of sanctions against Eritrea for supporting the insurgents and sanctions against the insurgent groups themselves," Mugume said.

Somalia has been embroiled in chaos since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and is widely regarded as a failed state.

- SAPA