Sudan to send peacekeepers to Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Mar 31, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) — Official report from the presidency of the government of Sudan says that the Sudan has approved to send peacekeepers to Somalia to support the new government led by President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad.

The Somali media Shabelle said Sudanese government has agreed to send some 2,000 troops to Somalia although there was no official confirmation from the government.

The AU has authorized IGAD — which comprises Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda — to send peacekeepers to Somalia to help the country’s transitional government get a foothold there when it relocates from exile in Nairobi.

Opposition to troops from Ethiopia and Djibouti is running high in Somalia, where the two countries are seen as having ulterior motives in taking part in the mission.

“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 earlier this month.

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.

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