Monday, June 22, 2009
Nairobi/Addis Ababa (dpa) - The African Union on Monday backed Somalia's appeal for foreign troops to help it fight off Islamist insurgents threatening to seize control of the Horn of Africa nation. Islamist groups al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam stepped up their insurgency in early May, putting the weak government under intense pressure and forcing over 120,000 Somalis to flee the capital Mogadishu.
AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping said that under the circumstances, the AU considered that the government "has the right to seek support from AU member states and the larger international community."
Somalia's Parliament Speaker Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur issued the appeal on Saturday after a particularly bloody week in which three officials were killed along with dozens of civilians.
Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden was killed Thursday in a suicide bomb attack that also claimed the lives of over 30 others, including the former ambassador to Ethiopia.
Mogadishu's police chief was killed in fighting on Wednesday and then on Friday an MP was shot by gunmen.
"I call on the entire world and especially neighbouring countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen and Djibouti to intervene in the worsening situation within 24-hours in order to take action against terrorists in Somalia," Nur said.
However, Ethiopia, whose 2006 invasion installed the transitional federal government and sparked the insurgency, said it would not send in troops without an international mandate.
Ethiopia pulled out its forces in January, leaving an AU peacekeeping force of 4,300 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi to hold the fort.
The peacekeepers do not have a mandate to pursue the insurgents and can only engage when they are attacked.
The government is reeling under relentless attacks by the insurgents, and foreign fighters have flooded to Somalia.
The appointment of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a former insurgent ally, briefly raised hopes of peace earlier this year, but the insurgents say he is too close to the West.
Their opposition continues despite the fact he has met one of their demands by implementing Islamic law across the areas controlled by the government.
An estimated 18,000 civilians have been killed in the insurgency since early 2007, while over a million have fled.
The insurgency, combined with drought, has left over 4 million Somalis dependent on food aid and has allowed piracy to flourish off the coast of the Horn of Africa nation.
Somalia has been embroiled in chaos since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Source: DPA, June 22, 2009