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Burundian forces to deploy in Somalia this month: AU

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Burundi will send a first battalion of troops to Somalia this month to bolster African Union peacekeepers trying to stabilise the war-wracked Horn of Africa nation, an AU official said Friday.

 

The forces will join some 1,600 Ugandan soldiers based in the volatile capital Mogadishu since March to quell Islamist insurgents.

 

"The Burundian first battalion is prepared and very shortly they will arrive. We are expecting (them) this month," said Nicolas Bwakira, the African Union special envoy to Somalia.

 

Bwakira told reporters that west African military powerhouse Nigeria will also deploy forces in "the coming two or three months."

 

The deployment of Burundian troops, initially set for July, has been delayed due to a lack of equipment and funds. The tiny central African nation plans to send a total of 1,700 soldiers.

 

The pan-African bloc plans to eventually send an 8,000-strong contingent to Somalia to help it stabilise after 16 years of bloodshed.

 

Some 600,000 civilians have been displaced and thousands others killed this year in relentless violence that intensified with the January ouster of an Islamist movement.

 

Bwakira said the bloc has urged Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein to open talks with all groups, including Islamist opposition members to stop the turmoil.

 

"I believe that Somalia needs in the end of the day power-sharing and economy-sharing because peace could be achieved if there is a political space and the prime minster should make his cabinet all inclusive."

 

Source: AFP, December 15, 2007

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