African summit ends still short on Somalia force
Source: Reuters
(Adds details, quote) ADDIS ABABA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - An African summit ended on Wednesday with a proposed peacekeeping force for Somalia still lacking firm commitments for thousands of troops. African leaders spent much of the second day of their summit discussing the need to urgently raise an 8,000 strong force for Somalia. But Ghana's President John Kufuor told a final press conference the number firmly pledged so far was only 4,000 with other countries still mulling contributions. "That we have 4,000 shows that we have come to the stage that we have 50 percent already," Kufuor said. "It's early days yet. We have asked the nations to contribute and I expect that they will contribute." At the opening of the summit on Monday, African Union commission chief Alpha Oumar Konare urged the leaders to raise more troops, saying hardly 4,000 had been pledged so far. Despite extensive discussions at the summit, the number firmly committed appears not to have increased although pledges of logistical support have been made. The peacekeepers are needed to fill a vacuum when Ethiopian troops pull out within weeks after ousting Islamists who ran much of the Horn of Africa country for six months. Many countries are nervous about committing soldiers to one of the world's most dangerous countries.
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