ETHIOPIA: African Union summit leaders scramble to find peacekeepers for Somalia as European Union pledges funds.

On the final day of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, African leaders scrambled to send a peacekeeping force to Somalia. While the European Union pledged 15 million euros (19 million dollars), U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called for a dialogue of national reconciliation in Somalia. African leaders scrambled on Tuesday (January 30) to find 4,000 more troops for a peacekeeping force in Somalia, fearing failure to deploy could plunge the Horn of Africa country back into anarchy. As the presidents met at an African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, the European Union released 15 million euros ($19 million) to finance the peacekeeping operation. African officials say funding is key to the operation. Around half the projected 8,000 peacekeepers have been pledged so far for the force, essential to avoid a dangerous vacuum when Ethiopian troops leave Somalia within weeks. But support was building at the summit. So far, Uganda, Nigeria and Malawi have promised soldiers and Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju told reporters Ghana would join. Benin was also expected to provide troops. A senior Algerian official told Reuters his country would provide about 12 transport planes for an airlift. Delegates say Tanzania and Zambia are also mulling contributions. But some countries are reluctant to send forces to Somalia, one of the most dangerous places in the world, where gunmen have ruled during 15 years of anarchy. Ethiopia, whose powerful army helped the Somali government crush Islamists who threatened to overthrow it, says its mission is complete and first AU units should deploy by mid-February. Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf told the summit his government would shortly call a broad reconciliation conference of clan, religious and political leaders as well as other prominent figures to discuss the turbulent country's future. He said it would be the broadest consultation ever held in Somalia and his government was "committed to doing whatever is necessary to ensure that a credible and all-inclusive government is set up." Europe, the United States and Ethiopia had called on Yusuf to open up to as many factions as possible, particularly moderate Islamists and powerful clan leaders, in order to stabilise the anarchic nation. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined an international chorus urging the government to work with other groups.The government should "engage in an inclusive political process including moderate Islamic Courts members, clan elders, religious leaders and civic community leaders," he said. The first day of the African Union two-day meeting was dominated by a dispute over whether Sudan should take the rotating chairmanship of the AU, promised a year ago, despite a flood of international condemnation of violence in its Darfur region. A group of senior leaders, working on the sidelines of the summit, managed to defuse the issue more swiftly than expected by handing the chairmanship to Ghana. Observers said the decision was a tribute to the determination of African leaders to defuse an issue which could have undermined the credibility of the organisation.

ITN Source | January 30, 2007

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