African armies planning the first foreign military presence in Somalia in a decade know they are taking risks in a state that humbled U.S. forces but must act, and soon, to end chaos there, according to an organiser.| Mr. Rooters is starting from a false premise: Somalia "humbled" U.S. forces only because of political failure at the presidential level. |
Marwa is Head of Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution at IGAD, an organisation of East African governments that manages peace negotiations in Somalia and southern Sudan. Marwa's latest assignment is to organise a meeting of East African defence ministers and army chiefs in Kampala next week to set the terms and mandate of a Somali peacekeeping mission. "We will work out a mandate, size and terms of engagement and develop a concept of operations," he said.
Marwa is aware of some hostility to the idea of foreign troops, especially among a small group of radical Islamists in Mogadishu, but is not overly worried by dissension in the called Transitional Federal Government over the use of foreign forces. President Abdullahi Yusuf is a supporter of an African peacekeeping force, saying he will not return to Mogadishu unless one is deployed. And many Somalis say they will welcome any force irrespective of nationality that can guarantee peace. But some of Yusuf's colleagues believe only a token force is needed, or none at all, since Mogadishu's main warlords are all ministers in the government and will be able to impose security provided they can work as a team, Somali watchers say. "In peacemaking it's not easy to get everyone aligned together and speaking as one. It takes time," said Marwa.
Diplomats say Somalis should have no problem with Sudanese and Ugandan troops since they have no history of intervention in the country. Sudanese troops, provided they are Muslim Arabs from the north, may be welcomed by Muslim Somalis. But "frontline" states of Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia, all of whom have a history of conflict with Somalia or Somali-based insurgents, may raise hackles, diplomats say.
| And everybody worries about raising the hackles of a prototypical failed state... |