NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi has called for peacekeepers to stabilize his country.
Gedi told reporters on Tuesday that violent attacks in Mogadishu were being carried out almost exclusively by supporters of the defeated Islamic Courts Union and by what Gedi called "their terrorist allies," Voice of America's East Africa bureau reported. The press conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya, where Gedi briefly stopped on his way to the France-Africa summit in Cannes.
"Do you believe they are innocent after the killings, the destruction made by the so-called Islamic courts?" Gedi asked. "They are not innocent. What is happening in Mogadishu is a clear sign that there are still opportunists who are not willing for peace for the benefit of the Somali people."
"We are appealing to the international community, specifically the African Union and IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) countries, to deploy soon African Union peacekeepers for Somalia," he said.
The Ugandan Parliament Tuesday agreed to send a contingent of 1,500 peacekeeping troops to Somalia. Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, and Burundi have also offered to contribute to the African Union peacekeeping force, but currently only about half of the 8,000 troops needed have been pledged.
AU officials have been meeting this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to prepare the operational phase of the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, the Integrated Regional Information Networks reported. The announcement of the deployment date for the AU peacekeepers is anticipated following these meetings.
