Top AU official in Mogadishu.

(Mogadishu, January 23, 2008 Ceegaag Online)  

African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit on Wednesday arrived in Mogadishu to review the African body's peacekeeping operation and meet Somali officials.

"The purpose of my visit is to meet the prime minister and the cabinet members to express our support for efforts in the peace process in Somalia," he told reporters at the airport.

Djinnit, on a one-day visit to the war-torn Somali capital, went straight into talks with new premier Nur Hassan Hussein.

"The second point is to meet Amisom, our troops on the ground and their commanders, to express our position on the wonderful job they are doing on behalf of Africa in supporting peace in Somalia," Djinnit added.

Burundian peacekeepers started deploying last month in Mogadishu to support a 1,600-strong AU contingent of Ugandan troops who have been in the restive capital for a year.

Burundi has said it would complete the deployment of an 800-strong battalion by the end of January and has pledged a total of 1,700 troops.

The African Union has pledged a total of 8,000 troops to Somalia but contingents have been slow to arrive, with no timetable yet for the deployment of Ghanaian and Nigerian troops.

Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces have been battling Islamist insurgents, mainly in Mogadishu, in fighting that has claimed the hundreds of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands.

African Union peacekeepers have struggled to make an impact on the guerrilla fighting while political deadlock has so far defied international and local peace initiatives.

Source: AFP

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