NEWS- The United Nations Security Council has given all the green light to a new African Union force in Somalia that is meant to take on the Islamist armed group al-Shabab and the soldiers due to be deployed in January.
The resolution was adopted by 14 of the council’s 15 member states, while the United States abstained due to reservations about funding to the new African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia.
It provides for the replacement of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, whose mandate ends on December 31st 2024.
Somalia is one of the world’s poorest countries, enduring decades of civil war, a bloody insurgency by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab and frequent climate disasters.
Representatives from Somalia and its western neighbor Ethiopia were invited to participate in the council’s meeting, although they were not allowed to vote.
The Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs has already announced that his country would take part in the new force after bilateral agreements with the Somali representative which will add 11,000 troops currently being pledged.
Tensions flared in Somalia after Ethiopia signed a maritime deal in January this year with the breakaway region of Somaliland, pushing Mogadishu closer to Addis Ababa’s regional rival Cairo.
However, Turkey brokered a deal to end the nearly yearlong bitter dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia, although Ethiopian troops would not be involved in the new African Uniona force.
However, Burundi will not be taking part in the new force either, a Burundian military source told journalists on the condition of anonymity saying that their country needs military man power to counter insurgency.
The text adopted by the U.N. Security Council provides for the possibility of using a mechanism that it created last year, under which an African force deployed with the green light of the United Nations can be financed up to 75%.
The U.S. representative, Ms Dorothy Shea said, justifying her country’s abstention saying that in their view, the conditions have not been met for immediate transition to application of the new measure.
Additional Reporting by Associated Press
