Jamster Posted March 11, 2005 Kampala There are key issues that need to be sorted ahead of deployment of peacekeepers in war-torn Somalia, Lt. Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, the chairperson of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) committee of military experts, has said. Alfred Wasike reports that Nyakairima said this at the opening of a meeting of military experts from IGAD nations (Kenya, Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Uganda) in Entebbe on Tuesday, to draw a deployment plan. He said the snags were which countries would send troops, mandate of the mission, its size, funding and logistics. The military experts are drawing up a deployment plan to be endorsed by IGAD chiefs of defence, defence ministers and heads of state. "We need the guidance from members of the AU Commission to throw light on what was discussed and agreed on in Abuja as far as the Peace Support Mission for Somalia is concerned. There are issues which are not very clear to us," Nyakairima said adding that a UPDF battalion was already training intensively for Somalia. He said last December, Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad appealed for deployment of a peacekeeping force ahead of the relocation of the Transitional Federal Government from Kenya to Somalia. Relevant Links East Africa Somalia Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution Arms and Military Affairs Uganda Nyakairima said on January 31, the AU assembly in Abuja endorsed the IGAD heads of states' decision to deploy troops and (or) equipment ahead of the AU support mission. He said the AU Peace and Security Council requested its commission to work on the mandate, size, structure and fund requirements of the peace mission. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
