US engineers Somalia peace force

[General Duke]

US engineers Somalia peace force

 

Wed. November 29, 2006 08:42 am.

 

 

Bonny Apunyu

 

(SomaliNet) United Nations (UN) diplomats said Tuesday that the United States (US) will this week disclose a draft Security Council resolution authorising African peacekeepers to help mend Somalia’s weak interim government.

 

According to the deal, there will be a deployment in Somalia of a joint peacekeeping force put together by the African Union and the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad), as the two groups have requested.

 

The diplomats said the resolution which is being prepared in consultation with Britain, would also ease a UN arms embargo to enable both the peacekeepers and Somali interim government security forces to legally obtain weapons.

 

However, even before its debut in the 15-nation council, the measure has kicked off a lively debate over whether it would help stabilize Somalia, as Washington and London hope, or trigger wider fighting, as European Union experts and a major international think-tank have suggested.

 

"We are still in consultation on the situation and at this point I’d rather not comment publicly. But we are very actively making progress, and I would hope within a couple of days we might have something that we are prepared to say publicly," US Ambassador John Bolton said when asked about the draft.

 

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group, in a report released yesterday, warned the text could backfire on its supporters by undermining the transitional government, strengthening rival Islamists and leading to wider war.

[XOG-ogaal]

war waa in a la sacabtumaay ethopian is not coming to somalia eu is against it

[General Duke]

^^^The point exactly, what invasion?

 

U.S. Peacekeeping Plan for Somalia Criticized

Sending Intervention Force Could Create Wider War With Islamic Militias, Some Fear

 

By Colum Lynch

Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 29, 2006; Page A19

 

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 28 -- The United States has finalized a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize a force of East African peacekeepers to intervene in Somalia to prevent the overthrow of the country's struggling government at the hands of Islamic militias.

 

But some European diplomats and other critics expressed concern that the initiative could trigger a wider war in the region.

 

The U.S. proposal comes as an alliance of militias, known as the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts, is extending its military and political control over Somalia and threatening the country's weak interim government. Ethiopia has sent thousands of troops to help prop up the government while its rival, Eritrea, has deployed thousands of troops to fight alongside the militias, according to a recent U.N. report.

 

 

The U.S. text, which is backed by China, Russia and key African states, would permit an East African protection force to provide security for Somalia's transitional federal government, based in Baidoa. It would partly lift a 14-year arms embargo so East African troops could train a Somali security force and import weapons to fulfill their mandate.

 

And it would also commit the Security Council to "consider taking measures" against states that try to "overthrow" the interim government, threaten regional stability or "seek to prevent or block" peace talks.

 

An alliance of seven East African governments, known as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, first proposed such a regional force to protect Somalia's interim government more than 1 1/2 years ago, before the Islamic militias emerged as a major power. The troops probably would be drawn primarily from Uganda, council diplomats said, but Ethiopia and Kenya have also expressed an interest in participating.

 

The African Union subsequently backed the proposal, but it then languished at the United Nations.

 

The case for an intervention force became more urgent this past summer, after the militias seized control of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, from a loose alliance of Somali warlords. U.S. and African diplomats, along with others at the United Nations, are worried that the militias are poised to drive out the government. They have encouraged the interim government and the Islamic Courts Union to negotiate a political settlement to end the fighting.

 

European and U.N. officials have privately voiced concern that the establishment of the force, which the militias oppose, could provoke a new military offensive against the government. They have also expressed fears that the conflict could reignite fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which ended their border war in 2000.

 

"We need to . . . encourage the Somali parties to continue the dialogue," said U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. "What is also important is we need to make sure that neighboring countries do not get drawn in, because there is a tendency for some of the neighboring countries to get drawn in."

 

The International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, issued a warning Monday that the U.S. resolution "could trigger all-out war in Somalia" and destabilize the Horn of Africa.

 

"You don't win in Somalia by picking one side and support it and funneling arms to it," said Nick Grono, an expert on Africa at the organization. He said the Islamic militias have warned that they would respond to foreign intervention with the declaration of a holy war. "That is a recipe for jihad," he said.

 

France and other European governments have asked the United States to consider amendments designed to assure the Islamic militias that they are not taking sides in the war. For instance, they are calling for the exclusion of the countries bordering Somalia -- Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya -- from participating in the force.

 

A U.S. spokesman said the United States probably will present its draft resolution to the 15-nation council on Wednesday. Other council diplomats suggested that the U.N. dispute may delay that.

 

John R. Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the United States is "trying to move as fast as we can" to call for a vote on the resolution. But he said he is still "seeking agreement from a number of countries on some critical points

 

"We need to do something as opposed to just watching the situation deteriorate," he added. "But we want to get it right."."

[XOG-ogaal]

Duke you didn't respone to my other threads ? south's represative

[General Duke]

Somalia needs troops - US

 

29/11/2006 08:17 - (SA)

 

Washington - The United States said on Tuesday that a regional peacekeeping force was needed to protect Somalia's weak transitional government from the powerful Islamist movement controlling the capital.

 

One day before the United Nations 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).

 

A statement from the state department's office said: "This force will deter further aggression against the TFIs; create the required space for dialogue; and stabilise the situation."

 

Islamists 'to invite foreign fighters'

 

It said: "The sole purpose of this deployment would be to stabilise the security situation by providing protection and training for the TFIs, not to engage in offensive actions against the UIC."

 

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 cease-fire and plans for military disengagement, once dialogue resumes".,

 

The US statement came amid rising tensions in Somalia as Islamists warned that they would invite foreign fighters to join their war if the UN authorised peacekeepers.

 

But, the embattled Somali government said failure by the UN 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.

 

Deployment of troops 'way to go'

 

It said: "The US 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."

 

According to diplomats, Washington intended 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 8 000-strong peacekeeping mission would be manned by troops from the east African regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

 

Somalia had been without a functioning central authority since 1991 and the two-year-old transitional government was the latest in more than a dozen international efforts to restore stability.

[NASSIR]

No country or a coalition of African countries would take sides in Somalia other than restoring peace and strenghtening the power of the government since its state authority does not extend to areas under the control of the Islamist.

 

I will agree with John Bolton for saying that we won't let the situation in Somalia deteriorate . Somalia is not like Iraq, rather Somalia is a small country with very minor population whom over the years have endured the occupation of one clan over another clan's territory, taxing the subjects in the process to enrich themselves or keep milking the cow.

 

We have to free captive societies in all the regions under the Islamist control. The time of rule where one will decide the fate and destiny of others have come to an end. It is God's work, a work whose wind justly blows against imported warlords such as Indhacade and his cahorts.

[General Duke]

US Defends Somalia Peacekeeping Plan

 

By David Gollust

 

Washington

30 November 2006

 

The United States said Wednesday it is backing an East African peacekeeping force for Somalia to help stabilize the country, rather than fuel ongoing warfare. A U.S.-backed draft resolution in the U.N. Security Council that would clear the way for the force is expected to come up for action within the next few days. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

 

The Bush administration is defending its support for the East African force, amid charges its arrival would only worsen on-going Somali violence and perhaps lead to regional warfare.

 

A U.S.-sponsored draft Security Council resolution, backed by the other permanent council member countries including Russia and China, would ease the international arms embargo against Somalia in place since 1992 to allow deployment of a regional force that would shore up the country's beleaguered transitional government.

 

Based in the western Somali town of Baidoa, the Transitional Federal Institutions or TFI has international support.

 

But it is under military siege by the country's powerful Islamic movement, the Council of Islamic Courts, which controls the capital Mogadishu and says it aims to seize the entire country and perhaps even ethnic-Somali areas of neighboring states.

 

The proposed African force, to be set up by the East African regional intergovernmental grouping IGAD, would seek to stabilize the situation by providing force training and protection for the interim government, though not undertaking offensive action against the Islamic Courts.

 

At a briefing for reporters, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said the United States is supporting only a narrow change in the arms embargo to allow deployment of the IGAD troops, but not fuel a wider conflict.

 

She said flatly that the forces of the transitional government need to be trained and reinforced so that it can be what she termed a credible negotiating partner with the Islamic Courts, which she said currently sees no reason to sit down and negotiate a settlement.

 

"We feel that this force is also important to achieve our broader Somalia objective, which includes most importantly creating a space for the dialogue to occur between the Transitional Federal government and the Union of Islamic courts. And in particular it's our view that as long as the Union of Islamic Courts continues to believe that it can have a military victory, there will not be an engagement and serious dialogue. So you have to have some parity between two sides of the dialogue," she said.

 

Frazer said the envisaged 8,000-member force would be made up of troops from the seven-country IGAD grouping and not Somalia's neighbors, including Ethiopia which is reported to have sent in troops to support the transitional government, and rival Eritrea which is helping the Islamists.

 

She said that contrary to claims that the IGAD force would broaden the conflict into a regional war, its deployment would actually create conditions for Ethiopia and Eritrea to disengage, while deterring further aggression against the TFI.

 

At this point, only Uganda among IGAD members has said it is ready to commit troops to the force, whose deployment is vehemently opposed by the by the Islamic Courts.

 

The Islamic Courts movement routed a group of U.S.-backed Somali warlords early this year and seized Mogadishu in June, later capturing most of southern and central Somalia and imposing strict religious law.

 

In her talk with reporters, Assistant Secretary Frazer said al-Qaida terrorists were operating with what she termed great comfort in areas controlled by the Islamic Courts and providing training and assistance to a group of radicals loyal to the Somali movement.

 

She said the United States has been in contact with all elements in Somalia including the Islamic Courts, which has publicly disavowed terrorism, to try to prevent the country from becoming an al-Qaida safe-haven.

 

Frazer said of particular concern to U.S. officials are three al-Qaida militants wanted in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and a coastal hotel in Kenya in 2002.

[General Duke]

Camir, I agree with you in that lifting the arms embargo is more than facing of the clan courts. This is the first time the international community has supported a central government of Somalia.

 

Our isolation seems to be ending and with it the nightmare that we have endured.

 

Any compariosn to the situation of Iraq and Afghanistan is without merit.