UN Peacekeepers in Somalia

This could be just another disaster. The UN supported government has little support within Somalia and would not survive without foreign support. The US and other insisted on driving out the Islamis govt. that had begun to establish a semblance of peace and order. Now the warlords are back. The US et al seem to prefer warlords to Islamists both in Afghanistan and Somalia. No wonder so many Muslims see the so-called war on terror as a war against Islam.

U.N. peacekeepers may head to Somalia By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
Mon Aug 13, 9:39 PM ET



UNITED NATIONS - Britain is proposing the United Nations start planning for the possible deployment of U.N. peacekeepers to take over for an African Union force struggling to keep the peace in war-torn Somalia, according to a draft Security Council resolution circulated Monday.

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The U.N. has come under increasing pressure from the African Union and Somalia's transitional government to deploy a well-equipped force to Somalia, which has been mired in chaos since 1991 when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned against one another.

The AU's Peace and Security Council agreed last month to extend the mandate of its force in Somalia for six months and called for the U.N. to deploy a peacekeeping operation that will support the country's long-term stabilization.

AU chairman Alpha Oumar Konare followed up with a letter this month to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council pushing for the deployment of U.N. troops to replace the AU force.

The U.N.'s authorization for the AU force in Somalia expires on Aug. 20. Britain's draft resolution would also extend that mandate for another six months.

Francois Lonseny Fall, Ban's special representative to Somalia, told reporters after briefing the council Monday that the AU's expectation is that a U.N. force will replace the AU troops at the end of the six months.

Key Security Council countries have said, however, that there must be a peace to keep before U.N. troops are sent to Somalia.

China's deputy U.N. ambassador Liu Zhenmin said Monday that while many council members, especially African nations, want greater U.N. involvement in Somalia — a position China generally supports — "everything depends on the security situation inside the country."

"If the security situation improves, we will support the active involvement of the U.N., at least to stop the current situation becoming further deteriorated," he said.

The Republic of Congo's deputy ambassador, Pascal Gayama, countered that "the Security Council has to move when there is no peace."

"When people are saying that there should be peace first and then the U.N. comes, it's really a nonsense in my view," he said.

The draft resolution asks the secretary-general to start developing plans for the possible deployment of a U.N. force by contacting potential troop contributing countries and identifying what actions the U.N. and the international community should take to create the conditions for a successful U.N. peacekeeping operation.

Uganda currently has about 1,700 troops in Somalia and is meant to be the vanguard of a larger AU peacekeeping force that is expected to have 8,000 troops.

Fall said the deployment of 1,500 troops from Burundi has been delayed because of the lack of funds and logistical help. Troops are also expected from Nigeria and Ghana, he said.