AYOUB Posted February 15, 2007 By Tim Cocks REUTERS 8:04 a.m. February 14, 2007 KAMPALA – The 1,500 Ugandan peacekeepers pledged to the African Union force for Somalia will be deployed solely in the country's lawless capital Mogadishu, the peacekeeping mission said on Wednesday. The Ugandan force could go in as early as this weekend, and would secure Mogadishu while the AU awaits troops from other countries to arrive in other Somali cities, Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the AU mission, said. Some 8,000 troops are expected in total. Uganda's parliament voted on Tuesday to send troops to Somalia under an AU plan to pacify a nation rocked by unrelenting attacks by insurgents against the interim government. It is the first country to do so. 'We can't deploy all over Somalia. We'll be in Mogadishu. 1,500 people is adequate (to secure Mogadishu),' Ankunda said. International pressure has grown for peacekeepers to deploy quickly to prevent the chaotic Horn of Africa country sliding back into anarchy after Ethiopian forces helped the transitional government oust Islamists in a December war. The Islamists had restored a degree of order to Mogadishu, which had been ruled by warlords since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre's regime in 1991. But the United States and Ethiopia accused them of harbouring al Qaeda operatives. Nigeria, Burundi, Ghana and Malawi have also pledged troops, but it is unclear when they would mobilise them. 'The other forces would have to take control of other main towns – Kismayu, Baidoa, Jowhar, Marka,' Ankunda said. 'The African Union must compel (the others) to send forces.' But he added that the Ugandan troops were able to hold the fort by themselves until reinforcements arrive, because they had the necessary training and equipment, including knowledge of basic Somali language and culture. 'We'll move there first because we can stand on our own,' he said, adding that a Ugandan officer, Major-General Levi Karuhanga, had been appointed to head the mission. Meanwhile in Baidoa, where the interim government still has its main base while awaiting for security to improve in Mogadishu, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin met government leaders. He arrived late on Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Seynab Abukar in Baidoa) web page Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
