From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Jan 28 2010 - 09:48:17 EST
Djibouti says to commit 450 troops to Somalia
Thu Jan 28, 2010 11:33am GMT
By Duncan Miriri
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Djibouti said on Thursday it planned to send 450
soldiers to Somalia possibly next month to boost the African Union (AU)
peace mission that is protecting the fragile Western-backed government.
Uganda and Burundi each have 2,500 peacekeepers in Mogadishu with the AU's
AMISOM force in Mogadishu.
Its soldiers come under near-daily attacks from roadside bombs and rebel
artillery. The force is struggling to raise its numbers beyond the 5,000
troops already present in the anarchic nation that has had no functional
central government since 1991.
"We are preparing our troops. We are training them so that they can carry
out their mission in a very efficient way," Djibouti's Foreign Minister
Mahmoud Ali Youssouf told Reuters on the sidelines of an African Union
foreign ministers' meeting.
Youssouf said he hoped his country's contribution would inspire others to do
the same.
"Somalia is a neighbouring country. We have a very close relationship. We
can see what is going on there and we have to contribute as Africans," he
said.
Since the beginning of 2007, fighting between pro-government militia and the
Islamist al Shabaab group -- which Washington terms as al Qaeda's proxy in
the region -- has killed more than 21,000 Somalis and driven 1.5 million
from their homes.
Together with Hizbul Islam, another hardline Islamist group, al Shabaab
wants to impose a harsh version of sharia Islamic law in the country.
Youssouf said the region must remain watchful against extremist groups.
"We have to be very vigilant because al Qaeda has a very large network in
the Arabian peninsula and also in the Horn of Africa," he said.
Separately, AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping said in a speech that Somalia's
best hope was its transitional government and urged the international
community to implement their pledges for aid.
International donors pledged $213 million at a conference in Belgium about a
year ago, but Somalia's government complains that only a small proportion
has so far been delivered.
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
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