Wednesday, November 29, 2006
One day before the UN Security Council was expected to debate the proposed peacekeepers, the US State Department said the force was needed to help restore dialogue between the interim government, the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs), and the Islamic movement, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).
"This force will deter further aggression against the TFIs; create the required space for dialogue; and stabilize the situation," said a statement from the State Department spokesman's office.
"The sole purpose of this deployment would be to stabilize the security situation by providing protection and training for the TFIs, not to engage in offensive actions against the UIC," it said.
The department also said the two sides should be ready, as part of a longer-term solution, to reach a "security protocol, including a verifiable ceasefire and plans for military disengagement, once dialogue resumes."
The US statement came amid rising tensions in Somalia as Islamists warned they would invite foreign fighters to join their war if the United Nations authorises peacekeepers.
But the embattled Somali government said failure by the United Nations to adopt the resolution could lead to a "doomsday scenario" leading to all-out war.
The State Department said Washington would work to prevent the war from escalating into a broader conflict in the Horn of Africa.
"The United States will remain actively engaged in preventing the continued escalation of tensions inside Somalia, which could spark wider regional conflict in the Horn of Africa if left unchecked. The deployment of a regional force is key in ensuring that such a scenario does not transpire," it said.
According to diplomats, Washington intends to introduce a resolution at the Security Council on Wednesday that would ease an arms embargo to allow plans for a regional east African peacekeeping force to deploy to Somalia.
The proposed 8000-strong peacekeeping mission would be manned by troops from the east African regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
Somalia has been without a functioning central authority since 1991 and the two-year-old transitional government is the latest in more than a dozen international efforts to restore stability.
The Islamists seized Mogadishu in June after months of fighting and then grabbed most of southern and central Somalia where they have imposed strict Sharia law.
Source: AFP, Nov 29, 2006