NAIROBI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A small African Union peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu must be reinforced fast to capitalise on the arrival of a new Somali president, the AU said on Monday.
Nicolas Bwakira, the AU's special representative for the Horn of Africa nation, said Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's election at United Nations-led talks in Djibouti provided a rare opportunity for peace in the country, which has been at war for 18 years.
"Now that there is an expanded parliament and a new president, we feel we have to accelerate the implementation of AMISOM activities," Bwakira told Reuters in an interview.
The AU force in Mogadishu, AMISOM, currently has about 3,200 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi.
Bwakira said the AU would help Ahmed reach out to the warring parties, and would also provide funding to pay the salaries of 2,700 paramilitaries to boost security in the bomb-wrecked city...more..http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L9403674.htm
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