Britain willing to train Somali security forces

[General Duke]

Britain willing to train Somali security forces

- Friday, October 22, 2004 at 17:02

 

Source: Reuters

By Katie Nguyen

 

NAIROBI, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Britain is prepared to help Somalia train security forces to disarm militias and stabilise the country where lawlessness has prevented a new government from taking its seat, a British minister said on Friday.

 

At his swearing-in ceremony in neighbouring Kenya last week, Somalia's new President Abdullahi Yusuf appealed for international peacekeepers to help disarm the warlords that control the Horn of Africa state.

 

"Mogadishu is full of armed militias, many of them not just armed with AK47s but much more serious weapons. And some means have to be devised to take the toys away from the boys," Britain's minister for Africa Chris Mullin told a news conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

 

"Primarily it is a matter for the new government, but we and the international community will be ready to assist them. We stand ready to assist if that is what is necessary," he said, referring to the training of yet-to-be-created security forces.

 

Somalia, seen by the United States as a haven for terrorists, descended into anarchy 13 years ago with the overthrow of military dictator Siad Barre.

 

Yusuf was elected after almost two years of stop-start peace talks held in Nairobi because of anarchy in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

 

His ability to return to Mogadishu is crucial for the legitimacy of his fledgling government, Mullin said.

 

"Obviously he would look more like a president when he's a president in Mogadishu (instead of) in a hotel in Nairobi," Mullin said. "One of the conditions of a recognised government is being able to exercise some control over your territory and we're waiting for that to happen."

 

Regional mediating body IGAD has said the Somali government aims to return home within two months, either to Mogadishu or the southern city of Baidoa.

 

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned on Tuesday that U.N. nation-building activities should not be expanded too quickly, saying there must first be greater political progress accompanied by serious efforts by Somali leaders to improve security.

 

Analysts say the road home for Yusuf's government will be rocky without a ceasefire in place and a monitoring force to investigate and guard against possible violations.

 

Another security problem may come from Somalia's northern breakaway enclave of Somaliland, which warned Yusuf against any attempted aggression, saying it was on alert for any attempt at reunification.

 

Mullin, who is due to visit Somaliland on Saturday, said he aimed to "keep the rhetoric down".

 

"My mission is to encourage both sides to have a dialogue and to remain on friendly terms with each other and to do nothing to destabilise the situation."