AU delegation arrives in Somalia

[General Duke]

AU delegation arrives in Somalia

 

The AU is to increase the number of troops to Somalia from an 8,000-strong deployment [AFP]

African Union officials have arrived in Somalia to finalise plans for a peacekeeping force as itnerim government troops search for weapons after Ethiopian troops helped them win a two-week war against the Union of Islamic Courts.

 

Somalia's weak interim government says it wants African peacekeepers to be deployed as soon as possible.

 

Abdirahman Dinari, a spokesman for the interim government, said on Sunday: "They came to meet with government officials in order to discuss how the African Union troops could be deployed."

 

"They will visit several places in the country ... and they'll meet with senior government security officials. We hope the African troops will be deployed as soon as possible."

 

Troop deployment.

 

The African Union's peace and security council agreed this week to increase the number of soldiers from a proposed 8,000-strong deployment and called on the international community to fund the peace mission.

 

Uganda is ready to provide the first battalion, but awaits its parliament's approval. Meanwhile Kenya, chair of regional body IGAD, has sent senior officials to several African nations to seek support for the force.

 

Ethiopia says it wants to withdraw its soldiers in the coming weeks. But diplomats fear that would leave the government vulnerable to remnants of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) which says it will carry out a guerrilla war after being driven out of Mogadish, the capital, and parts of southern Somalia its fighters had controlled since June.

 

Guns and explosives seized

 

Dinari said government forces searched houses in the northern Arafat area and seized AK-47s, grenades and explosives. He said seven "gangsters" in another area were arrested.

 

"The operations were aimed at improving security in the capital city," he said.

[raadamiir]

The future looks Great for Somaliweyn!!!

[Wisdom_Seeker]

Those who have short-term memory shouldn’t be talking about the future of Somalia.

[General Duke]

Somalia is moving forward, those who want to contribute can those who do not want to can at least stop wishing for the best.

[Wiilo]

WAR DADKU MAAN GAABANAA............ :eek:

 

 

GO FIGURE:............

[Wisdom_Seeker]

Originally posted by General Duke:

Somalia is moving forward, those who want to contribute can those who do not want to can at least stop wishing for the best.

The government haven’t contributed anything to the Somalis living in Somalia. Yet you expect us to contribute to a government who allowed its people to be under occupation? Please.

[raadamiir]

Originally posted by mystic:

Those who have short-term memory shouldn’t be talking about the future of Somalia.

Your views of the future and mine aren't the same. You my friend are what we Somalians would call a ********. YOur ********imo days are over. Mogdishu is in good hands I would suggest you say in the west.

[Wisdom_Seeker]

Raadamir

 

Enough with your gibberish. You don’t seem to be in good hands, I will call the animal control.

[General Duke]

AU visits Somalia for peacekeeping talks

 

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - An African Union delegation was in Somalia's capital Sunday to discuss the deployment of international peacekeepers as government troops expanded a house-to-house search for weapons in one of the world's most dangerous and heavily armed cities.

Mohamed Foum, the AU's special representative for Somalia, said nine delegates arrived in Mogadishu on Saturday for meetings with leaders of the U.N.-supported transitional government in this chaotic Horn of Africa nation.

 

"A team has gone to take a look and to get information that will help us devise a plan for peacekeepers," Foum said.

 

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf needs to establish enough calm so foreign peacekeepers can deploy to protect his government until it can form an effective police force and army.

 

Troops loyal to the interim government, with critical help from the military of neighboring Ethiopia, last month routed an Islamic militia that had controlled much of southern Somalia since summer.

 

But insecurity remains a problem in a country whose 7 million people haven't had an effective government since clan warlords toppled a longtime military dictatorship in 1991 and then turned on each other.

 

Fighting between clan militias over pasture and water for livestock in an area 90 miles northwest of Mogadishu killed at least 20 people since Thursday in rural central Somalia, clan elders and witnesses reported.

[General Duke]

[Che -Guevara]

Our correspondent also says that Aids is eroding the continent's ability to provide troops for peacekeeping operations at a time when its many wars are placing increased demands on armies. web page