The African
peacekeepers are likely to face opposition in
Somalia
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The UN Security
Council has voted to authorise a regional force to bolster
Somalia's weak government, which is under pressure from
Islamist militias.
The US-led resolution,
co-sponsored by Congo, Ghana and Tanzania, also urged the
government to resume peace talks.
The agreement also
called for the easing of a 1992 arms embargo to allow Somali
government forces to re-arm.
The resolution
supported an 8,000-strong mission from the seven nations of
east African body, Igad.
The resolution, adopted
unanimously by the 15-nation council, said Somalia's
transitional government represented "the only route to
achieving peace and stability" in the country, which
has been without effective central government since 1991.
However, observers
believe it will be a long time before any peacekeepers
arrive and say the UN resolution may be primarily intended
to show symbolic support for the government.
Choice
The peacekeepers are
likely to face strong opposition from the Union of Islamic
Courts (UIC), which seized the capital, Mogadishu, in June
before taking control of much of the south and centre of the
country.
The UIC strongly
opposes foreign peacekeepers, saying they are capable
of restoring security to the country.
They see a peacekeeping
force as cover for Ethiopian troops being sent to help the
government, even though the resolution rules out sending
troops from states that border Somalia, such as Ethiopia.
The UIC has declared
"Holy War" on Ethiopia, which has twice fought
wars with Somalia, over control of Ethiopia's large
Somali-speaking region.
Ethiopia denies sending
troops to help Somalia's government but admits to providing
military trainers.
Outgoing US ambassador
to the United Nations John Bolton said not intervening was
not an option.
"The other option
is that the instability we have seen in Somalia for over 15
years would spread to the region," he said.
"I think the
choice of doing nothing is really not a choice at all."
The aim of the force
would be to protect transitional institutions located in
Baidoa, some 250km (155 miles) north-west of the capital.
Washington also fears
the Islamists are offering shelter to al-Qaeda operatives, a
charge they deny.
Spiralling conflict
Experts worry a
spiralling conflict could spill over into other countries in
the Horn of Africa.
The fear in particular
is that Ethiopia and Eritrea will come into conflict because
they support opposite sides and might see in Somalia another
battleground in which to continue the intermittent war over
their own border dispute.
The Islamists have
removed the check-points, at which gunmen used to extort
money from commercial vehicles in Mogadishu.
In some areas, they
have imposed strict Sharia law, such as public executions of
murderers and floggings for drug dealers.
Some cinemas which show
foreign films and football matches and radio stations which
ban Western music have been closed but in other areas under
UIC control, such activities have been allowed to continue.
They have also banned
the popular stimulant, khat.
Source: BBC
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