LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - The African Union is disturbed by attacks on its peacekeepers in Somalia and member states are consulting about the situation, AU Chairman John Kufuor said on Wednesday.

"It's unfortunate that the first batch of troops to have gone there has been met with shooting," Kufuor told a news conference in London.

"It is discouraging and the African Union is rather disturbed," said Kufuor, who is also president of Ghana.

More than 1,000 Ugandan troops landed in the Somali capital Mogadishu last week, the vanguard of an 8,000 strong African Union force designed to help the fragile Somali government restore order to the anarchic country.

However the Ugandans have been attacked since landing and two were wounded in an ambush the day after they arrived.

Analysts say the AU troops are targets because they are seen as supporting a government that has many enemies in Mogadishu.

"I am hoping that the African Union will not give up in trying to assist Somalia find a peaceful way to peace," said Kufuor during a state visit to Britain.

"That's what I want to say now. Of course consultations are going on among members of the union, and between me as the chair and the secretariat," he said.

The Horn of Africa country slid into anarchy after former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991, and 13 earlier attempts to create an effective central rule all failed.

Kufuor stressed Ghana had committed troops to the AU force not to meddle in Somalia but to "help a sister African nation try to achieve normalcy through peacekeeping".

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