African Union Vows No Meddling In Somali Affairs

MOGADISHU, March 05, 2007 – An African Union delegation visiting Somalia ahead of the first deployment of Ugandan peacekeepers said Monday that the bloc did not intend to meddle in the country's internal affairs.

"The AU mission ... will not interfere in the internal affairs of the Somali people but support the transitional federal government to train enough security forces to handle Somalia," said Geofrey Mugunya, head of the AU Peace and Security Council.

The eight-member delegation, which arrived in Mogadishu late Sunday, was holding talks with Somali officials ahead of the arrival of some 1,500 Ugandan troops, part of an 8,000-strong AU force planned for Somalia.

A vanguard of some 30 Ugandan officers last week arrived in the town of Baidoa, 250 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Mogadishu ahead of the full deployment.

Ugandan military vehicles have arrived by train in the Kenyan port city of Mombassa, from where they will sail up the Indian Ocean to Mogadishu. They are expected to leave on Friday.

The Somali government on Monday increased security at the airport in Baidoa, expected to be a landing point for Ugandan troops.

"Extra soldiers have been mobilized," an airport security officer told AFP.

"We are expecting the Ugandan troops to land most probably by today," he said.

Mohamed Foum, the AU's special representative for Somalia, called on Somalis to cooperate with the peacekeepers.

"Most of the Somali people understand the mission of the AU and we expect their full cooperation," Foum told AFP in Mogadishu.

Rebels in Mogadishu have vowed to kill the incoming peacekeepers in an ominous reminder of the UN-backed, US-led Operation Restore Hope in the mid-1990s which ended in a bloody withdrawal, leaving the country a battlefield for rival warlords.

The government, backed by Ethiopian forces, late last year drove out an Islamist movement that had taken control of south and central Somalia for six months.

Although Ethiopia plans to pull its troops out of Somalia as soon as possible, many wonder whether it will need to stay to bolster the AU mission, which has so far only gathered half of its 8,000 proposed troops.

Burundi has said it would send 1,700 peacekeepers there, Nigeria has pledged 850 soldiers, and Malawi and Ghana are also possible contributors.

Source: AFP

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