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AU Commissioner Calls for Urgent Deployment in Volatile Somalia

Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
NEWS
April 28, 2007
Posted to the web April 28, 2007

By Aweys Osman Yusuf
Mogadishu
Chairperson of the African Union Commission Alpha Oumar Konare has called on
African leaders to act fast in sending peacekeepers to volatile Somalia,
warning that the situation there could get worse.
Konare told the press here on Friday that the small number of Ugandan
peacekeepers currently in Somalia needs to be beefed up urgently to avoid the
increasing violence.
"I wish other troops could come in very quickly because without these troops,
the situation can be very dangerous and that will be a failure for Africa," he
said.
Uganda is the only country that has so far sent some 1,500 peacekeepers to
Somalia under the African Union mission to Somalia (AMISOM), though Nigeria,
Ghana, Mali, South Africa and Burundi have pledged to send troops.
Konare said if the total number of troops required is not realized then it may
be difficult to keep peace and security in Somalia.
"If Ethiopia pulls out of Somalia today and there is no massive African
presence, then we will be heading for chaos. We need to send the troops now so
that we create a conducive situation for dialogue between the Somali people,"
he said.
So far only half of the required 8,000 troops have been promised.
He said the situation in Somalia could not have gotten worse if African
countries had intervened instead of declaring the country stateless.
"We made a mistake in the last 10 years when we abandoned Somalia. We accepted
that Somalia be stateless, giving a leeway for outlaws to take charge of it.
This is what we are paying for today," he said.
Somalia has lacked an effective central authority since the 1991 ouster of
military strongman Mohamed Siad Barre.
With the help of Ethiopian troops, the transitional government took over the
most part of the country from Islamic military groups. But the following
violence has thrown the country into a new wave of chaos. (Xinhua)


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