African Union to send forces to Somalia

By Saturday Standard Team

An international crisis meeting held in Nairobi has resolved to deploy an African Union (AU) force to Somalia to support the Transitional National Government.

But Kenya has declined to send its forces to the country although it pledged diplomatic support to President Abdullahi Yusuf’s government.

The stabilisation force will be modelled on the one that operates in Burundi, which largely focused on giving protection to the Government and its seat.

And the United States has urged Kenya to uphold its international obligations even as it tries to secure its borders against a possible influx of armed militias fleeing the neighbouring country.

"The US calls on Somalia’s neighbours to meet their international obligations regarding refugees while ensuring that their borders remain secure," the US Secretary for State, Ms Condoleeza Rice, said in a statement released on Thursday.

US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Ms Jendayi Frazer, who attended the meeting on Friday, echoed her sentiments.

"Kenya’s track record in the last 16 years have proved that it has been helping refugees from Somalia and we do not expect that to change" she said.

The criticism came a day after the Kenyan Government closed its border with Somalia claiming that Somalis were not in danger.

Consequently, the UN has accused Kenya of flouting international rules.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Raphael Tuju, ysaid the Government was closely monitoring the situation and would open the borders if the situation warrants it.

Tuju, who has been given the task of marshalling other countries in Africa to contribute an additional troops besides the 1,000 pledged by Uganda said it would not be easy to raise the 8, 000 soldiers recommended by the United Nations Security Council.

Kenya was given the responsibility because it currently holds the chairmanship of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (Igad).

Igad had originally planned that the force will be drawn from its members excluding the frontline states of Kenya and Ethiopia.

The time line for deployment of the force is not definite since Uganda, the first country to pledge forces, is yet to get its parliament to approve the deployment.

Ms Frazer said that the US would contribute US$14 million to support the force and additional money for humanitarian efforts.

The meeting urged the neighbours and international community to extend humanitarian aid to Somalia.

Donor meeting to be held soon

A donor meeting would be held soon to seek more aid for the country that has had no government for the last 16 years.

The US, which has also admitted that it is monitoring the Somali coastline for possible terrorists on the run, has said that it would not like to see a vacuum in the country. "We expect Ethiopia to withdraw before the deployment of the AU force," said Frazer.

Ms Frazer said supporting the Transitional Government would be the best counter to any threats posed by terrorists. There is no Islamic Courts Union now, what is left are maybe local Islamic Courts which existed before the formation of the union and we expect the Government will include them in governance, she said.

In a joint statement read by Tuju, Yusuf pledged to give dialogue a chance. However he left the meeting halfway but his foreign minister stayed on.

The meeting, chaired by the Ambassador of Norway, which heads the contact group, was also attended by representatives from the European Union, the United Kingdom and Tanzania.

Somali MP’s arrested

Separately, police on Friday arrested five Somali MPs who had sought refugee at hotels in Nairobi’s Eastleigh Estate.

The development came as eight suspected militias who were arrested earlier in the week in Garissa were transported to Nairobi for further interrogation.

Police sources said the suspects have crucial information that various security agencies want to share.

The MPs were arrested by a group of immigration and administration policemen on Thursday after they called on Ethiopian troops to pull out of their country immediately during a press conference.

Police said they are looking for 20 other MPs, who accompanied the detained to the press conference.

"Those arrested were being interrogated by the immigration and intelligence officials at Nyayo House by the time of going to press.

Meanwhile, seven Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) fighters surrendered to Kenyan authorities in Garissa district as the government intensified security patrols along the border with Somalia.

Garissa police chief, Mr Johnstone Limo, said the unarmed fighters allied to the Islamitsts surrendered to security personnel in Liboi border division after escaping from Somalia under a volley of heavy fire from the Ethiopian troops at Dobley town.

More fighters held

He said five of the fleeing fighters were found some 40km inside the country at Kulan location.

This brings to 21 the number of militias in police custody since Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia.

And the Liboi border remained closed even as over 7, 000 refugees waited at the border. United Nations High Commission for Refugees officials at Dadaab said reports indicated that a humanitarian crisis continued to develop on the Somali border town of Dobley.