UN backs Somalia peace mission

UN troops pulled out of Somalia in 1995

The United Nations Security Council has backed plans to send a peace-building mission to Somalia, nearly six years after UN troops were pulled out.

The UN special representative to Somalia, David Stephen, said the mission would include political officers and aid agency officials, but not military force.

We have come out of that deep hole that we had dug for ourselves

Transitional Prime Minister Ali Galayr

The prime minister of Somalia's transitional government, Ali Khalif Galayr, told the BBC his country did not need large numbers of peacekeepers, but it did need UN support for a programme of demobilisation of militia groups.

Mr Galayr said the safety of UN personnel would be guaranteed. UN troops pulled out in 1995 after a mission that cost hundreds of lives.

Modest mission

After addressing the Security Council for the first time, Prime Minister Galayr said: "We have come out of that deep hole that we had dug for ourselves... this year and hopefully onward will be better years for Somalia."

The transitional government works out of hotels - it has no archives, it doesn't even have paperclips

UN special representative David Stephen

The Security Council has asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to prepare a proposal for a peace-building mission aimed at ending a decade of turmoil in Somalia.

"There will be no huge mission or massive ambitions in Somalia," Mr Stephen said, describing any future venture as "modest and practical".

But he stressed that Somalia's administration needed assistance.

Somalia has had no central government since 1991 and many of the country's warlords oppose the transitional government formed in August last year and headed by President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan.

Accusations

"The transitional government works out of hotels," said the UN representative. "It has no archives, it doesn't even have paperclips."

The Security Council also called on all groups to participate in the peace process and insisted other countries should refrain from interfering militarily in Somalia.

In recent days, Somalia's transitional government has accused neighbouring Ethiopia of sending troops into border areas.

It also accuses Addis Ababa of arming and hosting militia groups. Ethiopia rejects the allegations.