Security Council Hesitates on Somalia

The Security Council on Friday unanimously endorsed the idea of deploying a United Nations peacekeeping force in Somalia, but put off until June a vote on whether to actually do it. European nations had put the brakes on an American attempt to create a peacekeeping mission immediately, and lack of support by the coming Obama administration raised further doubts about its eventual creation. On Wednesday, Susan E. Rice, the ambassador-designate, questioned the wisdom of sending a United Nations force when the country remained so unstable. The Council did vote to provide financial and other resources to help increase the African Union’s existing 3,000-soldier force to 8,000.