International Contact Group urges urgent funding of Somali troops

The International Contact Group on Somalia wrapped up a day-long meeting in Nairobi on Friday by calling for urgent funding for a peacekeeping mission in the war- torn country.

The Washington-backed international panel said the funding would facilitate the deployment of stabilization force in Somalia based on UN Security Council resolution 1725 to help the lawless country get a foothold.

"The contract group urges the international community to provide immediate concrete assistance for the transitional government to strengthen the key institutions of governance, including the security sector, in their efforts to implement the federal charter," the contact group said in a joint communiqu??.

It said: "The deployment of this stabilization force will help create the conditions of the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Somalia."

"To establish local-level stability throughout Somalia, effective Somali security forces, including a civilian police force, must be quickly developed," the statement said.

"There is a historic opportunity for the people of Somalia to reach sustainable political solutions for Somalia based on the framework for the Transitional Federal Charter," said Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju after a meeting of the contact group, adding that the group welcomed Uganda's pledge of 1,000 troops for Somalia.

Tuju said he would conduct an urgent mission to Somalia to evaluate the need for peacekeepers, saying Kenyan military personnel were already near the border assessing the security situation there.

The meeting did not agree on a timetable for the deployment of the troops, but the African Union (AU)'s Envoy to Somalia Mohamed Foum said the AU peace and Security Council would meet in Addis Ababa next week to deliberate on the deployment of the troops.

Source: Xinhua