UNITED NATIONS, 14 August 2007 - Britain is proposing the United Nations start planning for the possible deployment of U.N. peacekeepers to take over for an African Union force struggling to keep the peace in war-torn Somalia, according to a draft Security Council resolution circulated Monday.

The AU‘s Peace and Security Council agreed last month to extend the mandate of its force in Somalia for six months and called for the U.N. to deploy a peacekeeping operation that will support the country‘s long-term stabilization.

The U.N.‘s authorization for the AU force in Somalia expires on Aug. 20. Britain‘s draft resolution would also extend that mandate for another six months.

Key Security Council countries have said, however, that there must be a peace to keep before U.N. troops are sent to Somalia.

"If the security situation improves, we will support the active involvement of the U.N., at least to stop the current situation becoming further deteriorated," he said.

"When people are saying that there should be peace first and then the U.N. comes, it‘s really a nonsense in my view," he said.

Uganda currently has about 1,700 troops in Somalia and is meant to be the vanguard of a larger AU peacekeeping force that is expected to have 8,000 troops.

Source: AP