Argaw Ashine
12 July 2009
Addis Ababa — Eastern African regional bloc Igad wants the Somalia peacekeepers' mandate reviewed.
Igad wants AMISOM allowed to engage in "fighting role" with the militants.
Igad, at an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers of six member countries, urged both the Africa Union and United Nation Security council to review AMISOM rules of engagement in Somalia.
Igad member states are Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. Eritrea has been suspended from Igad membership.
Nearly 4,500 AMISOM peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi are in Somalia with a limited mandate of protecting the palace and parliament buildings, sea and airport routes.
Igad member states also called for the removal of UN Security Council resolution 1725(2006), which prohibits neighbouring states from intervening in Somalia.
IGAD says the crisis in Somalia is "clear aggression" and no longer just a fight between and among Somali people.
The Ethiopian Government estimates that nearly 2,500 foreign fighters, are operating on Somali soil to topple the transitional government.
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