the end for the hutu-courts is in sight. freedom to my people at last.
By Mark Turner at the United Nations and Andrew England in,Cairo
Published: December 1 2006 02:00 | Last updated: December 1 2006 02:00
The US is expected shortly to call for an African force to prop up Somalia's beleaguered transitional government and stave off the advance of the country's Islamic Courts Union (ICU).
US officials said they were working with the UK on a United Nations resolution, to be proposed imminently, that would lift an arms embargo to allow regional forces to protect the dwindling administration of Abdullahi Yusuf.
But analysts question the viability of such a force and fear that if it did deploy, the likelihood of a big confrontation would rise.
Mr Yusuf is a warlord- turned-president, with UN backing, but in practice has little influence outside the central town of Baidoa. Underlining his difficulties, an apparent suicide bomb exploded yesterday at a checkpoint outside the town.
The ICU, an alliance of conservative and radical Islamists, captured Mogadishu from a loose grouping of warlords in June, and now controls much of southern Somalia. Mr Yusuf is reliant on the support of as many as 5,000 Ethiopian troops for his survival.
A recent UN expert report alleged that Uganda also supported Mr Yusuf, while the ICU was receiving high-tech support from Eritrea, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, among others.
Experts warn that political strife in Somalia might escalate into a more serious regional conflict. But western powers have shown no desire to send in their own troops, more than 10 years after the last, ill-fated, UN peacekeeping mission. Instead, they propose to back a regional IGAD force, possibly led by Uganda.
European countries are uncomfortable at offering UN backing to frontline states, in particular Ethiopia, although they concede that it is their presence that has staved off the government's collapse.
One Security Council diplomat said there were no particularly attractive solutions but "there comes a moment when you take the troops you have and make the most of them".
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/6ad20664-80e1-1 ... e2340.html
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
