AU urges UN to impose naval blockade, no-fly zone in Somalia .Support for the TFG remains the first priority, also Carson said.

Addis Ababa (TF.SF) – The Peace and Security Council of the African Union has called upon the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone and block sea ports in Somalia to prevent infiltration of foreign elements and the support funneled to insurgents in Somalia.
The African Union body, at its 245th meeting held at ministerial level, on 15 October 2010 in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, expressed grave concern on the security and humanitarian situations prevailing in Somalia.
The AU Council urged the UN Security Council to request the naval operations undertaken off the coast of Somalia and with its authorization, to provide a more direct and tangible support to AMISOM, the modalities of which will be subsequently defined between the concerned countries and organizations, on the one hand, the AU, on the other.
“Council requests naval blockade and a no-fly zone over Somalia to prevent the entry of foreign elements into Somalia, as well as flights and shipments carrying weapons and ammunition to armed groups inside Somalia which are carrying out attacks against the TFG, AMISOM and the Somali population.” The Peace and Security Council of the AU said.
International warships from NATO, Russia, China and other regional countries patrol in the Red Sea for pirates off the Somalia’s coastline, in a bid to deter the ramping maritime piracy in the region since 2008.
Also, Eritrea has widely been accused of fueling security situation in the war-torn Somalia by arming, providing logistics and training foreign fighters to the Islamist insurgent group, Al Shabab which is a branch of Al-Qaida in Somalia.
At the meeting held in Addis Ababa the African Union reiterated its commitment for the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Somalia, and reaffirmed its full support to the Somali government.
The AU body further reiterated the commitment of the Union to provide political and diplomatic support to the Somali government, work towards enhancing security to create a more conducive environment for the transitional institutions in the troubled country including security and police forces and public institutions, and facilitate humanitarian action.
The Addis Ababa meeting has also set a number of decisions including ensuring the effective implementation of sanctions against all those impeding the peace and reconciliation process in Somalia.
In this regard the meeting endorsed the revised concept of operations and newly authorized strength of AMISOM, namely, 20,000 troops for the military component, 1,680 for the police component, comprising 560 police experts on mission and 8 Formed Police Units of 140 each, and an enhanced civilian component

Support for the TFG remains the first priority, Carson said.

Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.

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