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AU Mission in Balance

The Monitor (Kampala)
NEWS
10 May 2007
Posted to the web 9 May 2007

By Frank Nyakairu & Agencies
Kampala
The African Union president announced on Tuesday the regional body still has
difficulty finding extra troops to send to troubled Somalia, three months after
Ugandan peacekeepers deployed.
Speaking on Tuesday, Ghanaian President and AU chairperson John Agyekum Kufuor
said deployment of extra troops will not be immediate.
"The AU wants to send 8,000 peacekeepers as soon as possible but we are having
trouble finding the troops," Mr Kufuor said.
Mr Kufuor was speaking in Pretoria, South Africa, where he met South African
President Thabo Mbeki.
On Monday, Mr Kufour was quoted in the media as saying the AU would send an
extra 8, 000 peacekeepers to Somalia, but on Tuesday he said he was referring
to the original deployment of AU troops, not any new ones.
Yesterday, Somalia called on African nations that promised to send peacekeepers
to keep their word now that the worst fighting is over.
Somali envoy in Kenya, Mohamed Ali Nur, said yesterday; "They have promised
before, so we just say 'keep your promise."
So far, only Uganda has sent troops. Diplomatic sources in Kampala told Daily
Monitor that the Somalia mission has been plunged in more trouble following
Mozambique's pull out.
Malawi and Ghana's deployments are also in balance. Burundi, a country still
emerging from a decade long civil war is dogged by cash and language command
problems. Burundi had promised between 1,500 and 1,600 soldiers; Nigeria 850;
Ghana 350; and Malawi an unknown number.
The spokesman of AU Peace and Security Council Assane Ba, however, said no
country has canceled her pledge.
"No state member of the AU who promised troops has canceled. It is a question
of resources which we expect from partners," Mr Assane said in a telephone
interview from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
"By the time these member states announced their pledges, they knew there was a
problem. Why would they pull out at this time," he said. Britain, USA, Norway
and France, had pledged financial support to the Somalia mission but little of
that has actually materialised.

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