Reuters: AU in Somalia to plan peace force

[ellisonz]

AU in Somalia to plan peace force
By Guled Mohamed Sun Jan 14, 11:35 AM ET

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - African Union officials arrived in Somalia to finalize plans for a peacekeeping force as government troops searched for weapons in the latest push to bring back order after weeks of war, an official said on Sunday.

Somalia's interim government wants African peacekeepers to be deployed after its troops, backed by heavily armed Ethiopian forces, ousted Islamists in a lightning December offensive.

"They came to meet with government officials in order to discuss how the African Union troops could be deployed," government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari, told a news conference.

"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."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070114/ts_nm/somalia_conflict_dc

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The AU mission will be 8,000+ they don't have a final number, and of course getting equipped groups on the ground is always a problem in peacekeeping operations.

[maddezmom]

1. Somali gunmen attack convoy of Ethiopian troops

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali gunmen fired at a convoy of Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu in the latest attack on forces backing the government, threatening efforts to restore effective rule in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation.

Saying Mogadishu was "in chaos," President Abdullahi Yusuf appointed officials on Monday to take charge of the city where Somali troops, backed by Ethiopian forces, ousted Islamists in a lightning December offensive.

The attack was late on Sunday in the northern Arafat area where Ethiopian soldiers had helped government troops seize guns and explosives hours earlier.

"Two Ethiopian trucks were hit," a Somali government source said. "Thirty minutes of heavy fighting followed. There are deaths on both sides." The source said three Somalis were killed in the shootout.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070115/wl_nm/somalia_conflict_dc_128

[Eugene]

2. Reuters: S.Africa to consider Somali troops this week-Mbeki

S.Africa to consider Somali troops this week-Mbeki
15 Jan 2007 21:29:44 GMT
Source: Reuters

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 15 (Reuters) - President Thabo Mbeki said on Monday South Africa
would consider sending troops to Somalia but military operations elsewhere may limit
its ability to deploy soldiers to the Horn of Africa nation.

African and Western diplomats are trying to rally a peacekeeping force to restore calm
in Somalia after a war last month between Ethiopian-backed government forces and
Islamists who had captured Mogadishu in June from U.S.-backed warlords.

-snip-

"Yesterday again I met the foreign minister of Kenya who had been sent by the East Africa
region ... They are requesting we should assist with the deployment of troops in Somalia.
I did say to the minister we will look at the matter this week," Mbeki said in an interview
on state television.

"It's partly a matter of capacity because we've got people deployed in the DRC (Democratic
Republic of Congo), we've got people deployed in Burundi, we've got people deployed in the
Sudan."

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15393776.htm