AU asks UN for Somalia air and naval blockade

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BBC news

The African Union has asked the United Nations Security Council to back a naval and air blockade of Somalia.

A blockade would stop piracy and the flow of arms reaching insurgent groups fighting the transitional government, said Ramtane Lamamra, AU commissioner for peace and security.

He also repeated a call for international troop numbers to be increased from under 8,000 to 20,000.

The al-Shabab militia - which now controls much of the country, including parts of the capital, Mogadishu - is linked to al-Qaeda.

Under-resourced
"The African Union is very concerned that the insecurity in Somalia is spilling over into the region," Mr Lamamra told the UN Security Council.

He called on the council to authorise a force of up to 20,000 troops and nearly 2,000 police.

Crucially, he urged the UN to make sure they had enough money and resources, says the BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN in New York. Fewer than 8,000 soldiers have been deployed so far and they are badly paid and equipped, she adds.

The requests were "legitimate", said Security Council president Ruhakana Rugunda, but would need to be studied further.

Ms Rugunda is UN ambassador for Uganda, which supplies the bulk of the troops already in the AU force in Somalia (Amisom).

Uganda is pressing the case for enlarging the force, our correspondent says.

However, other countries - such as Britain and France - are more wary of funding missions over which the council has limited control.

Mr Lamamra criticised the UN's policy as limited engagement and half-hearted measures, and urged an increased effort to confront the threat posed by Somalia to regional and international security.

In July, al-Shabab said it carried out two bombings in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, in which 74 people were killed.

Source; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11603023

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