Somalia: AU to beef up force

  1. Posted on Wednesday 28 July 2010 - 12:12
    raphie
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    Ryekolal Raphie, AfricaNews reporter in Kampala, Uganda
    The African Union has agreed to send thousands of extra troops to its force battling Islamist insurgents in Somalia at the close of a summit dominated by Al-Qaeda's rise on the continent.
    SOMALIA- AU peacekeepers in somalia starts geting allowances
    "We have a commitment to deliver quickly an additional 4,000 troops there, which will help us to reach the ceiling and may be go beyond that ceiling," African Union commission chief Jean Ping told reporters.

    The continental body also pushed for AMISOM to be given a license to hunt the Al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab, who are threatening to punch their way to Mogadishu's presidential palace and take over full control of the country.

    Despite that, African Union leaders said they are considering a plan to give the force a stronger mandate and had requested helicopters from Western donors to allow the AU troops to take offensive action against the al-Qaida-aligned insurgents. Currently the peacekeeping forces can only respond to attacks or when they see militants.

    Shortly before the summit wrapped up, the permanent secretary of Uganda's foreign ministry James Mugume said there was no agreement on whether to give the force a more aggressive mandate under chapter seven of the UN charter.

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