UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has instructed his special envoy to Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, to work jointly with the African Union (AU) and Somalia’s neighbouring countries to facilitate a UN takeover of the peacekeeping operation there, the envoy said Monday.
In a speech delivered in Madrid, Spain, where the International Contact Group on Somalia met to consider boosting the security operation in that country, the UN Special Envoy said Ban’s instructions were to improve the humanitarian situation in Somalia to pave the way for the light deployment of a UN peacekeeping force there.
The UN envoy would work jointly with the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to prepare the ground for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission.
However, this would be subject to an early approval of the plan by the UN Security Council, which agreed in principle in June, 2009 to approve a force for Somalia, but failed to take a binding decision on the issue until the US and the United Kingdom diplomats on the Council completed their consultations on the matter.
“I have been instructed by the Secretary-General to work closely and strengthen the partnership with the AU and IGAD,” Mahiga told a group of 45 countries, all members of the Contact Group on Somalia, meeting in Madrid.
The two-day meeting, 27-28 Sept. is seeking ways of supporting the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to boost its strength in Mogadishu and to better protect the interim government there, which has been weakened by internal squabbles.
Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is also attending the International Contact Group meeting in Madrid, which was partly dominated by speeches, demanding for the unity within his Transitional Federal Government and called for closer working relations between his regime and other armed factions in Mogadishu.
Mahiga said the UN would embark on efforts to stabilize Somalia’s fragile humanitarian situation followed by “the establishment of a light UN footprint” before moving to the deployment of a UN peacekeeping operation.
He said the deployment of this peacekeeping operation would come at an appropriate time and would be subject to a decision of the UN Security Council.
The UN envoy expressed sadness over the continued activities of the foreign-backed insurgents, which he said were determined to destabilize all efforts by the Somalis and the international community to ensure peace and security in Somalia and the region.
“The suicide bombings in Kampala on 11 July demonstrated their ability to carry out violent acts outside Somalia’s borders,” Mahiga noted.
The UN, he said, supported the decision taken by the AU Summit to increase the strength of AMISOM to its mandated capacity of 8,000 troops as soon as possible.
The UN also supports the decision by the IGAD Heads of State authorizing 20,000 troops to meet the growing threat of the insurgents and to stabilize the country as a whole.
“We now need to ensure that both military planning and political strategy are matched and support the plans and requirements for the remainder of the transitional process,” Mahiga stated.
The envisaged political outreach beyond Mogadishu will require a secure territorial environment which the TFG forces and AMISOM need to provide.
Meanwhile, the UN looks forward to proposals by the AU Peace and Security Council being brought forward to the UN Security Council next month.
Source: www.afriquejet.com
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