African states wary of Somalia 'quagmire'

[Castro]

No one on the continent has responded so far to the call for 8 000 African peacekeepers for Somalia, perhaps because it looks like it will be some time before there's enough peace to keep.

 

Uganda has promised about 1 500 troops, but not moved decisively to send them. Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Benin and Ghana, among the other nations on whom hopes were pinned, have been reticent on the matter.

 

"For us to send troops would be to enter a serious quagmire. We would be perceived to be fighting the US war on terror. Any peacekeeping force there would lose credibility," said a senior South African foreign affairs official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

 

After Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops drove an Islamic movement out of the Somali capital earlier this month, United States, European Union, African and Arab diplomats called for an African peacekeeping force envisioned at 8 000 soldiers.

 

Since then, sporadic attacks have targeted Ethiopian troops in Somalia's capital, fighting has continued in southern Somalia, and the US this week launched an air strike against al-Qaeda suspects the Islamic movement is accused of harbouring.

 

Many African countries are already occupied with peacekeeping missions in other parts of the continent, so may be reluctant to take on the considerable challenge Somalia poses.

 

A United Nations peacekeeping operation in Somalia in the 1990s saw clashes between foreign troops and Somali warlords' fighters, including the notorious downing of two of the US military's Blackhawk helicopters in 1993. The Blackhawk debacle led to the US withdrawal from Somalia in 1994, and that was followed a year later by the departure of UN peacekeepers.

 

"There is strong thinking that foreign troops may not be the panacea everyone wants it to be," said Iqbal Jhazbhay, a Horn of Africa specialist at the University of South Africa. "The history of southern Somali since 1991 has shown that the area is averse to foreign troops even if they are African or Muslim."

 

A senior US official in Kenya said on Thursday US diplomats were doing everything possible to persuade African countries to contribute to a new force, but that security was a major issue.

 

Nonetheless, the official, who was authorised only to speak on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday he still hoped the vanguard of an African peacekeeping force would be in Mogadishu within weeks.

 

With Africa's largest population, one of its mightiest militaries and massive revenues from the continent's biggest oil industry, Nigeria has often contributed to and led military intervention and peacekeeping missions in the past. But it has never participated in a mission as far away as Somalia, and most of its peace forays have followed comprehensive peace deals, or at least came when talks were under way. Talks between the Somali players have stalled.

 

Nigerian troops have battled rebels and militia fighters in Sierra Leone and Liberia and taken major roles in regional and UN peacekeeping missions that later calmed those countries.

 

Nigerian troops are on the ground in Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- three nations still wracked with insecurity.

 

As to Somalia, Nigeria Foreign Affairs Minister Joy Ogwu told the Associated Press on Thursday no comment would be made on peacekeepers until after an African Union summit set for January 29 to 30 in Ethiopia.

 

Like Nigeria, South Africa has been a major contributor to peacekeeping missions in Africa, with troops in Sudan's Darfur, Burundi, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire and along the Ethiopian-Eritrean border.

 

Richard Cornwell, an analyst with the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, said South Africa's peacekeeping troops were "very thinly stretched," with 3 000 soldiers deployed.

 

South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said she wants to see the speedy deployment of peacekeepers to Somalia, but a decision on her country's involvement needs to be made by the Cabinet, which is only expected to meet in late January or early February.

 

Senegal's military spokesperson, Colonel Antoine Wardini, said his country had not been contacted. In Benin, Defence Ministry spokesperson Hamidou Boni said the country was not making any preparations to send a force, while in Ghana, military spokesperson Colonel Dzotepe Mensah said he was not aware of plans to contribute troops to Somalia.

 

Uganda has gone further than most, committing to 1 500 troops for Somalia. Uganda's Parliament was to hold a special session to give its army permission to deploy a force in Somalia. No date for the session has been set.

 

"Certainly it would be a matter of some surprise were the [African Union] to be able to mount a sizable or effective operation in Somalia within the next few months," analyst Cornwell said. - Sapa-AP

 

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