11 January 2007
Dumisani Kumalo, South Africa's UN ambassador, says US air strikes on Somalia have "complicated" the search for peace in the country.
Kumalo said yesterday that the international community should act swiftly to put peacekeepers into Somalia and end the bloodshed.
"We want deployment in Somalia to really stabilise the situation," said Kumalo.
Ibrahim Gambari, UN under-secretary general for political affairs, noted that "Nigeria, South Africa and Malawi are countries that are said to be considering sending troops".
Foreign Minister Nkosa-zana Dlamini-Zuma said earlier that South Africa had not yet been asked to send forces.
Somali clan elders and residents said about 100 civilians were killed in the US and Ethiopian air strikes.
Eight al-Qaeda members were killed and five were detained by Ethiopian troops, according to Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia's prime minister.
The seeds of an insurgency appear to be growing in Somalia, just days after the Union of Islamic Courts was routed from power by the Somali transitional federal government and Ethiopian forces just days ago.
Fears are grow ing that the US backing of one faction in Somalia's 15-year conflict could spark a renewed civil war. - Foreign Service, Sapa-AFP
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