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UN chief outlines plan for possible dispatch of UN
troops to Somalia
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in a report issued
Tuesday that he was prepared to recommend sending UN peacekeepers to
strife-torn Somalia if some key conditions are met.
The conditions include "a viable and inclusive political process and an
agreement on the cessation of hostilities," he noted in a report detailing
possible alternatives to the African Union (AU) peace force known as AMISOM
currently in Somalia.
Under this scenario, the Ethiopian troops currently propping up the Somali
government in its battle with Islamist insurgents "would have withdrawn or
would be in the process of doing so."
"A military technical agreement in support of peace would have been signed
by the major clans and factions, which would list security arrangements, such
as certain certain to achieve disarmament, in respect of heavy weapons as a
minimum, and non-violent settlement of disputes," the report said.
Ban released the report in response to calls for greater UN involvement in
Somalia made by the AU and some members of the Security Council.
The deployment of up to 28,500 UN troops and police was one of four
scenarios worked out by UN planners who sent a fact-finding team to the
volatile Horn of Africa country which has been wracked by civil war for more
than 16 years.
The team conducted a thorough analysis of the security situation there.
Last month, the UN Security Council voted to extend for another six months
the mandate of AMISOM.
AMISOM, which currently consists of roughly 2,300 troops from Uganda and
Burundi according to Ban, is ultimately to number around 8,000 soldiers
tasked with stabilizing Somalia.
The Somali capital, Mogadishu, has seen almost daily gun battles between
Islamist insurgents and Somali and Ethiopian security forces.
troops to Somalia
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in a report issued
Tuesday that he was prepared to recommend sending UN peacekeepers to
strife-torn Somalia if some key conditions are met.
The conditions include "a viable and inclusive political process and an
agreement on the cessation of hostilities," he noted in a report detailing
possible alternatives to the African Union (AU) peace force known as AMISOM
currently in Somalia.
Under this scenario, the Ethiopian troops currently propping up the Somali
government in its battle with Islamist insurgents "would have withdrawn or
would be in the process of doing so."
"A military technical agreement in support of peace would have been signed
by the major clans and factions, which would list security arrangements, such
as certain certain to achieve disarmament, in respect of heavy weapons as a
minimum, and non-violent settlement of disputes," the report said.
Ban released the report in response to calls for greater UN involvement in
Somalia made by the AU and some members of the Security Council.
The deployment of up to 28,500 UN troops and police was one of four
scenarios worked out by UN planners who sent a fact-finding team to the
volatile Horn of Africa country which has been wracked by civil war for more
than 16 years.
The team conducted a thorough analysis of the security situation there.
Last month, the UN Security Council voted to extend for another six months
the mandate of AMISOM.
AMISOM, which currently consists of roughly 2,300 troops from Uganda and
Burundi according to Ban, is ultimately to number around 8,000 soldiers
tasked with stabilizing Somalia.
The Somali capital, Mogadishu, has seen almost daily gun battles between
Islamist insurgents and Somali and Ethiopian security forces.