U.N. Security Council does not rule out Peacekeeping Force for Somalia,

The U.N. Security Council has not ruled out the idea of a U.N. peacekeeping force for Somalia, a top envoy said Saturday after meeting with African Union officials to discuss problems in Somalia and Sudan. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has come out against such a force, but the fierce fighting that has ravaged Mogadishu, the Somali capital, in the last few days appeared to weigh on the diplomats' minds.

More than 100 civilians have been killed in the last week and at least 30,000 people forced to flee their homes in Mogadishu, one of the world's most dangerous cities.

Diplomats said up to 400 foreign Islamic militants were behind the anti-government attacks. Ruhakana Rugunda, Uganda's U.N. ambassador, said those militants could become a threat to the entire region.

"This problem of foreign fighters needs to be contained and contained now. If not, it can escalate and cause more problems in other countries," Rugunda said. An intricate peace deal led to the election of a moderate Islamic leader as president and Ethiopia withdrawing its troops after a two-year deployment. Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed's government also promised to implement Shariah law, but even that has failed to persuade hard-line Islamic groups to end a two-year insurgency. Burundi's AU ambassador, Epiphanie Kabushemeye-Ntamwana, said her country is hoping for an U.N. peacekeeping force. Burundi already has two battalions in Somalia as part of an AU force that guards key government officials and buildings.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the violence in Mogadishu on Friday and strongly supported Ahmed's government. It also expressed concern at reports that Horn of Africa nation Eritrea has supplied arms to opponents of Somalia's government in violation of an arms embargo.

Source: Ecoterra intl, May 18, 2009

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