Britain proposes UN peacekeeping force in Somalia

[Koora-Tuunshe]

Britain proposes beefed-up UN political office in Somalia, planning for UN peacekeeping force

 

By EDITH M. LEDERER , Associated Press

 

UNITED NATIONS - Britain is circulating a draft U.N. resolution calling for the United Nations to move its Somalia political operation to the conflict-wracked nation, step up efforts to restore peace, and keep planning for a U.N. takeover of peacekeeping from the African Union.

 

The draft, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, calls on all countries in the meantime to provide money, personnel and equipment to beef up the AU force now on the ground in Somalia. It is authorized to have 8,000 soldiers but has only 2,600 from Uganda and Burundi.

 

In a report last month, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community to step up political efforts and consider a series of military steps to restore calm in Somalia, which hasn't an effective central government since 1991.

 

Part of that effort should include moving the world body's Somalia office, now in Kenya, to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, he said.

 

Britain's proposed resolution endorses that move and calls on the U.N. to help Somalis draft a constitution, hold a constitutional referendum and carry out elections in 2009.

 

On the military front, Ban suggested the possibility of the AU force being replaced by an 8,000-strong multinational force, which could pave the way for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops who helped Somalia's U.N.-backed interim government rout an Islamic movement in January 2007.

 

The multinational force could later be replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping force of up to 27,000 soldiers and 1,500 police officers, he suggested.

 

The draft resolution says Ban should push ahead with planning for a U.N. force and also consider "additional options for the size, configuration, responsibility and proposed area of operation of the (peacekeeping) mission depending on different conditions on the ground."

 

The draft makes clear, however, the deployment of a U.N. force will not happen soon.

 

In his report, Ban said the Security Council might also want to consider establishing a maritime task force to protect U.N., AU and humanitarian shipping off Somalia's coast, an area that has been plagued with pirates operating out of the lawless Horn of Africa nation.

 

The draft resolution calls on states and regional organizations — coordinating with each other and the secretary-general, and with the agreement of Somalia's transitional government — "to take action to protect shipping involved with the transportation and delivery of humanitarian aid to Somalia and U.N.-authorized activities."

 

The United States and France are drafting a separate U.N. resolution that would allow countries to chase and arrest pirates off the Somali coast, responding to a spate of attacks including this week's hijacking of a Spanish tuna boat.

 

Source: AP, April 23, 2008