Region | Somalia
Somali premier calls for UN troops without delay
The international community must deploy UN peacekeepers in Somalia without delay or risk worsening insecurity in the Horn of Africa, the country's prime minister warned on Monday during a visit to Ethiopia.
- Reuters
- Published: 17:13 July 7, 2008
Addis Ababa: The international community must deploy UN peacekeepers in Somalia without delay or risk worsening insecurity in the Horn of Africa, the country's prime minister warned on Monday during a visit to Ethiopia.
Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussain said the UN troops were needed to replace Ethiopian forces under the terms of a peace deal reached last month at UN-led talks in Djibouti.
"The U.N. and international community must provide financial support and deploy peacekeepers without delay so that Ethiopian forces would withdraw in accordance with the agreement."
Hussein was speaking at a news conference in the capital Addis Ababa following a three-day trip to Ethiopia.
The June 9 deal agreed in Djibouti between his interim government and some opposition figures called for the rapid deployment of a robust UN stabilisation force for Somalia.
The deal said that Ethiopian forces should leave Somali soil within 120 days, but that their withdrawal was conditional on "sufficient" UN troops being deployed before that.
Islamist insurgents inside Somalia and opposition hardliners have criticised the deal, which has had little impact on the ground.
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