20100129
africanews

Djibouti has announced to send 450 troops to Somalia next month as to join the African Union peacekeepers mission in that country, the foreign ministry said.
au troops
"We are training them so that they can carry out their mission in a very efficient way," Djibouti Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Youssouf who was attending the conference of AU foreign ministers in Addis Abba told Reuters.

Ali said he expected that their contribution would encourage other African countries to send peacekeepers in the mission.

He added "Somalia is a neighbouring country. We have a very close relationship. We can see what is going on there and we have to contribute as Africans".

Djibouti foreign minister was quoted as saying the region must keep on alert against radical groups.

He informed the Horn of Africa nations to be very watchful because al Qaeda has a very large network in the Arabian Peninsula and also in the Horn of Africa.

AU had already requested Djibouti, Ghana, Malawi and Nigeria to send peacekeeping forces to Somalia.

Uganda has committed to be ready to deploy over 8,000 troops to the AMISOM mission in Somalia, according to Ugandan military officials.

Somali government are battling with Al-Qaeda-inspired Al-shabaab fighters who run most of southern Somalia and government controls a few areas in the capital Mogadishu, where Uganda and Burundi sent 5,000- strong peacekeepers.

AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping has said the best hope of Somali people is the transitional government led by moderate president Sharif Sh. Ahmed. He has urged the international community to fulfill their pledges to fund the Somali government.

Nicholas Bwakira, former AU envoy to Somalia had said that donors had only paid 30% of promise made in Belgium nine months ago. Donors pledged more than $250 million to support Somali government and AU peacekeepers at that time.