African Union opens Somalia office

[NASSIR]

African Union opens Somalia office to push peace

Sat Sep 24, 2005 5:58 PM GMT

 

 

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The African Union (AU) said on Saturday it had opened an office in Somalia as part of its support for the latest attempt to bring peaceful government to the lawless Horn of Africa nation.

 

The pan-African body, which also wants to send peacekeeping troops in, based its office in the provincial town of Jowhar, where Somalia's new administration has made its headquarters.

 

"The initiative to open the office ... is in line with the need to put in place appropriate structures and institutions through which the AU could channel its support for Somalia," the AU said in a short statement from its base in Ethiopia.

 

The AU urged President Abdullahi Yusuf's administration to accord its personnel esteem and cooperation.

 

The statement did not say how many AU officials would be based in Somalia nor what their specific job would be.

 

Yusuf's administration was formed in Kenya in 2004 under international auspices in the 14th attempt to restore government since warlords in 1991 ousted ex-dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

 

But since moving back earlier this year it has split into two factions -- based in Jowhar and Mogadishu respectively -- and struggled to impose any authority on Somalia.

 

On one side, Yusuf and his Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi have made their base in Jowhar, about 90 km (56 miles) north of Mogadishu, arguing that the capital is too unsafe.

 

But Mogadishu-based warlords, like Osman Ali Atto and various others who are also cabinet ministers, say the leaders have reneged on the 2004 deal by failing to make Mogadishu their capital.

 

The AU is requesting an exemption from an arms embargo on Somalia so it can equip a 10,000-strong peacekeeping force which would also protect the government.