US backs Somalia lawmakers stance on neighoring peacekeepers

WASHINGTON, Mar 4, 2005 (AP) — The U.S. government says it backs the stance of key Somali lawmakers who say that if peacekeepers are sent to help settle the 14-year civil war in the Horn of Africa nation, they should not come from neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti or Kenya.

Somalia’s transitional Cabinet asked the African Union and Arab League last month to send between 5,000 and 7,500 troops with a one-year mandate to protect the government as it organizes a police force and army.

But 61 Somali lawmakers, including warlords-turned-Cabinet ministers, said Sunday in Mogadishu that including troops from those nations would undermine fragile efforts to end the strife.

“The United States shares the concerns of the international community and many Somalis regarding the introduction of foreign troops into Somalia ,” U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement released Thursday.

While the African Union would likely play a key role, “such a mission, however, must be carefully evaluated and have the support of the Somali people,” Boucher said.

“Somalia ‘s neighbors have legitimate national interests that are best protected by the successful establishment of a stable and effective central government in Somalia ; however, any external force should exclude troops from those countries,” he said.

Ethiopia supported Somali factions with money and weapons in the war, and its troops could seek to advance Ethiopian interests if deployed in the country, some Somali lawmakers said.

Somalis also remember the war they lost in 1977 over control of Ethiopia’s southeastern Ogaden region, largely inhabited by ethnic Somalis. The Somali army never recovered from the defeat, a fact that eventually helped warlords to overthrow dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

The warlords then turned on each other, reducing the nation of 7 million to a patchwork of clan-based fiefdoms.

Residents of Mogadishu and other southern towns have held several demonstrations against having troops from Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya included in a force. Some rejected troops from any foreign country.

Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti have said they would not send troops if they are not welcome.