UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged the world body and countries that are considering sending peacekeeping troops to replace an African Union force in Somalia to proceed with caution.
In a report for the UN Security Council Ban said "present political progress and opportunities for peace in Somalia are real and have been hard won."
But he warned it was "important to bear in mind lessons from previous United Nations peacekeeping experiences in Somalia," a reference to failed UN efforts to secure peace in Somalia in the 1990s.
The country, on the Horn of Africa, has been mired in civil war since 1991.
Then a UN deployment of 3,000 troops to protect humanitarian aid struggled to fulfill its mandate and was forced to call on a more robust US force for help.
But US troops were withdrawn in 1993 after they clashed with Somalia militiamen in which two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and 18 US troops were killed.
Ban said Somalia now deserved "the international community's thoughtful, generous and sustained support.
"If security conditions permit," Ban suggested "a light United Nations footprint in Mogadishu... to support the political process on the ground."
He said progress on the part of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government in establishing security in the war-wracked country and in developing security institutions would help "gauge the acceptability of a United Nations presence in Mogadishu."
That presence is expected to include 22,500 troops, backed by naval assets.
On Wednesday, the European Commission announced that it would pledge at least 60 million euro (78 million dollars) to help boost Somalia's security institutions and the African Union force at a donors' conference later this week.
The one-day conference Thursday will be attended by Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Ban and other senior officials, along with representatives from some 30 nations.
According to African Union projections the UN could collect 166 million dollars to support African Union efforts and a further 31 million for Somali institutions.
Source: AFP
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