Pana
Saturday, June 27, 2009
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The African Union is in support of Somali government’s appeal for military assistance in its efforts to dislodge the radical Islamist elements trying to oust it from power and “all options” are on the table, including beefing up the African forces in Somalia and direct military aid, officials said on Saturday in Sirte, Libya.African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra said the African Union Commission was in support of the request by the Somali government for military assistance and “was open to all options”, including direct military aid from the governments.
“We are putting all options on the table. This issue would be discussed at the highest political level,” Ambassador Lamamra told PANA in an interview.
Heavy fighting in Somalia has killed slightly more than 300 people in Somalia in the past month alone and displaced more than 160,000 civilians, aid agencies operating in Somalia said on Friday.
Somali government has launched an appeal for military aid to help it combat growing hostility from the Al Shabaab militant group and the Hizul Islam, which has been fighting to seize control of authority.
Ethiopia, whose forces crossed into Somalia to help restore peace and order there, pulled out of Mogadishu and other areas after more than two years of operation.
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which has been in the country to help provide security, has been overstretched and has no mandate to fight the militants.
Somalia’s neighbours, Kenya and Ethiopia are getting worried the fighting inside Somalia is increasingly threatening their own internal stability and have been tempted to intervene militarily.
Kenyan officials have been hinting at military action to protect the country’s interests, saying her overall economic goals are threatened by the fighting inside Somalia. But opinion is deeply divided in Kenya as to whether the government should intervene militarily.
Kenya’s foreign Minister Moses Wetangula says the country’s military has been put on “its highest level of alert ever” over the fighting in Somalia, but has not made any indications as to whether a military option is on the table.
The Kenyan parliament itself has urged the government not to take the insecurity in Somalia lightly.
Ethiopia on the other hand, insists that it would not send back its forces to Somalia without an international mandate to do so.
Lamamra said the AU was considering all the possibilities of helping the Somali government militarily, either by increasing the number of AMISOM forces on the ground or seeking direct military intervention from friendly states.