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U.N. approves planning for
possible force in Somalia
Evelyn Leopold
Reuters
Monday Aug 20, 2007
The U.N. Security Council authorized on Monday an
African Union force in chaotic Somalia for another six months
and asked the secretary-general to develop plans for a possible
U.N. troop replacement.
In a resolution, approved unanimously, the council also threatened
unspecified "measures" against those trying to thwart
a peaceful political process, threaten force against the government
or the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISON) or undermine
stability in the region.
The United States is considering putting Eritrea on its list
of state sponsors of terrorism for allegedly funneling weapons
to insurgents fighting the Ethiopian-backed government in Somalia.
A U.N. monitoring group last month reported that huge quantities
of arms, including surface-to-air missiles were provided by Eritrea
to Islamic insurgents.
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Clashes between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government
troops have intensified in the past two months, despite the convening
of a peace congress between Somalia's many clans and factions.
Somalia has been a byword for anarchy since the fall of dictator
Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
The council's resolution asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
to develop within 30 days "contingency planning for the possible
deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping operation" to replace AU
troops.
This would include sending another assessment mission to the
Horn of Africa nation.
Few expect the United Nations to field a large force rather than
provide financial or technical support to the AU unless fighting
dies down and a viable peace process take place.
African nations are pressing the United Nations to supply backup
for Somalia similar to that initially provided for Sudan's war-torn
Darfur region and then field its own force.
The AU mission, which should number 8,000, so far consists of
only 1,600 Ugandans.
Calling the resolution "a very important decision,"
Congo Republic Ambassador Pascal Gayama, the current council president,
said that at a minimum the United Nations should provide "financial,
technical and logistical support ... so that African counties
would be able to operate."
The U.N. envoy to Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, told reporters
last week that prospects for a U.N. mission continued to depend
on political progress in Somalia. But he said the AU expected
U.N. troops to replace or absorb its contingents in six months.
"The problem that the African Union has is that it doesn't
have the resources," South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisani
Kumalo said. "The African Union is doing the job that the
U.N. is supposed to be doing."
"When your house is on fire, the neighbors come with a bucket
of water," Kumalo said. "But the neighbors are not the
fire engine. The fire engine is the United Nations."
The AU's Peace and Security Council last month agreed to extend
its force in Somalia for six months and called for the U.N. to
deploy peacekeepers.
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