Mogadishu, December 26, 2007 - Soldiers from Burundi have started arriving in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, as part of the country’s contribution to the African Union peacekeeping force for the troubled country.

One thousand seven hundred Burundi peacekeepers will join the Ugandan contingent of 1,600 which has been holed up in Mogadishu for some months.

But the number is still considerably short of the 8,000 peacekeepers the AU plans to deploy there.

Many African countries which had pledged support for the AU mission have been slow in living up to their commitments. So far only Uganda and Burundi have sent troops, but it appears there is little they can do in a situation where there is no peace to keep.

Even as the Burundi contingent was landing, Mogadishu was the scene of fierce fighting between insurgents and forces of the interim government backed by Ethiopian troops.

The international community has to face up to the fact that unless there is a force strong enough to enforce peace, everything else will be a mere gesture.

As long as the interim government depends on Ethiopian military power for survival, then the insurgents who have found a common cause against what they see as a foreign occupation, will not stop fighting.

The first step towards peace in Somalia should be the withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops, but they obviously will not quit if it means leaving the interim government to be easily overrun by insurgents.

The AU must place in Somalia a force large enough to contain the insurgents for the period it will take the government to build up its own capability.

Source: Daily Nation