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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Aug 15 2010 - 08:06:41 EDT
South Africa considers sending troops to back Somalia mission
African Union mission in troubled country could receive support from South
African soldiers and navy
* Savious Kwinika in Johannesburg and Tracy McVeigh
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/tracymcveigh>
* guardian.co.uk <http://www.guardian.co.uk/> , Sunday 15 August 2010
00.06 BST
The South African cabinet is on the brink of sending troops into the ongoing
conflict in <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/somalia> Somalia, an official
has told the Observer.
The revelation comes after the United Nations last week said that it was
also considering sending in soldiers - Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general,
talked of a light presence in the capital, Mogadishu, and other parts of the
country. The <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/africanunion> African Union
peacekeeping force in Somalia is nearing its full deployment of 8,000
troops.
This weekend <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/southafrica> South Africa's
government spokesman Themba Maseko said the cabinet would meet on Wednesday
to discuss the possibility of sending troops to Somalia. Maseko said he was
not able to reveal the nature of troop deployment to the country being
proposed.
According to a high-ranking source, however, among the issues to be tabled
will be a request from the AU that South Africa send in its National Defence
Force to support the 5,000 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi presently in
Mogadishu propping up the fragile interim government.
Somalia has been in a state of almost constant conflict since the collapse
of the government of Siad Barre in 1991. The rise of Islamist militancy
there has alarmed the international community and the country's capacity to
spark regional unrest has caused concern among its neighbours.
Violence has engulfed Mogadishu since the AU deployed peacekeepers in 2007
to protect the embattled government from Islamist insurgents who control
most of the rest of the country. The deployment has come at a price: 70
people died in Uganda in July in revenge bombings over the country's
involvement in Somalia.
South Africa's presence would significantly strengthen the embattled AU.
"Remember that South Africa is an African superpower, and they would want to
be seen playing key roles in the affairs of Africa," the source said. "It
appears President Zuma will definitely give a nod to the AU's request for
South African military support. The South African government will definitely
seize the opportunity to show the continent that they are the big brothers."
Defence spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya remained non-committal. "The matter is now
in the hands of the cabinet or President Jacob Zuma," he said.
The AU force is engaged in frequent firefights with the Islamist insurgents
that control much of southern and central Somalia. The main group, the
hardline Al-Shebab, controls around 80% of Somalia and is thought to number
up to 7,000 armed men, with a main force of around 3,000 experienced
guerrilla fighters. Al-Shebab has an armed wing, known as the Army of
Suffering, and a religious police known as Army of Morality.
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