UNITED NATIONS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The United States circulated a draft Security Council resolution on Monday that would firm up a plan to deploy a U.N. peacekeeping force in war-torn Somalia to replace an existing African Union force. The plan, which African countries have long been calling for, has been supported by outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, but U.N. officials and some Security Council members have objected that the situation is too dangerous. The draft sent to Washington's 14 partners on the Security Council, expresses the council's "intent to establish a United Nations peacekeeping operation ... in Somalia as a follow-on force" to the current AU force, known as AMISOM.
It says, however, that this should be subject to a further decision of the Security Council by June 1. Diplomats said the resolution was likely to pass because it did not specifically authorize a force or set a date for deploying one. AMISOM was originally meant to consist of 8,000 troops but only 3,200 Ugandans and Burundians are so far deployed and have been able to do little to stem the rampant factional violence in the Horn of Africa state. Islamists control most of southern Somalia, feuding clan militias hold sway elsewhere, and 3,000 Ethiopian troops backing the weak government are now pulling out. The U.S. draft calls on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to develop by April 15 a mandate for the proposed U.N. force, whose tasks, it says, should be to assist aid delivery, protect politicians and U.N. staff, monitor ceasefires and build up Somali security forces. The U.S. plan envisages that AMISOM would eventually be incorporated into the new force. It urges the AU to increase AMISOM to the originally planned 8,000 troops and asks Ban to set up a trust fund to provide financial support more...http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12362192.htm
It says, however, that this should be subject to a further decision of the Security Council by June 1. Diplomats said the resolution was likely to pass because it did not specifically authorize a force or set a date for deploying one. AMISOM was originally meant to consist of 8,000 troops but only 3,200 Ugandans and Burundians are so far deployed and have been able to do little to stem the rampant factional violence in the Horn of Africa state. Islamists control most of southern Somalia, feuding clan militias hold sway elsewhere, and 3,000 Ethiopian troops backing the weak government are now pulling out. The U.S. draft calls on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to develop by April 15 a mandate for the proposed U.N. force, whose tasks, it says, should be to assist aid delivery, protect politicians and U.N. staff, monitor ceasefires and build up Somali security forces. The U.S. plan envisages that AMISOM would eventually be incorporated into the new force. It urges the AU to increase AMISOM to the originally planned 8,000 troops and asks Ban to set up a trust fund to provide financial support more...http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12362192.htm
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