24 December 2007
Addis Ababa — The African Union (AU) called on Saturday for new initiatives to end Somalia's conflict, describing it as one of the most serious challenges for peace and security in Africa.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Friday accused the UN of exaggerating emergency situation in the Horn of Africa State.
Meles rejected the World body's claim that Somalia represented Africa's worst humanitarian crisis.
He said the UN relied on unfounded reports promting it to play a counter productive role.
"The situation in Somalia represents one of the most serious peace and security challenges facing the continent", the AU Peace and Security Council said in a statement.
"(We) call on the Somalis and the international community to explore new avenues, to muster the required political will and resources to bring to a definite end the conflict that has afflicted Somalia and its people," the statement added.
The AU Peace and Security Council said it would meet in mid-January to review the situation in Somalia before the expiry of the AMISOM mandate. The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday called for more funds for the AU mission.
The conflict has killed 6,000 civilians this year and uprooted hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Meanwhile, a first contingent of 100 peacekeepers from Burundi deployed in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday, hours after fighting between Islamist rebels and government forces killed at least four people.
The arrival of the Burundian soldiers in the rubble-strewn city marked the first phase of long-delayed support for 1,600 Ugandan troops who began work in March as the vanguard of a planned 8,000-strong African Union (AU) mission.
"One hundred peacekeepers from Burundi have just landed here," a Reuters story quoted Captain Paddy Ankunda, the AU force spokesman, as telling the news service at Mogadishu's heavily guarded international airport.
Burundi's government had pledged to send about 1,700 troops to Somalia's capital. They were meant to arrive in July, but their deployment was repeatedly delayed. It was not immediately clear when the rest of the Burundian contingent would arrive.
Without support, the Ugandans have been restricted to guarding Mogadishu's sea and air ports and presidential palace, as well as providing security for top government officials.
On Saturday, the AU described the conflict in Somalia as one of the most serious challenges for peace and security on the continent. The United Nations says the country is suffering Africa's worst humanitarian crisis.
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