No wish to 'Americanize' Somali conflict: US official

Somali gov't forces 'inefficient' and 'corrupt': UN report
Nairobi (AFP) March 14, 2010 - Despite international assistance the Somali government's military forces are ineffective and corrupt, and it remains dependent on foreign troops for survival, a UN group concluded in a report. "Despite infusions of foreign training and assistance, government security forces remain ineffective, disorganised and corrupt," the UN's Monitoring Group on Somalia said in a report to be presented to the Security Council this week. Somalia's internationally-backed Transitional Federal Government has been boxed into a tiny perimeter in the capital Mogadishu by an insurgency launched in May 2009 by the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab group and its more political Hezb al-Islam allies. The Shebab now control most of the centre and south of the Horn of Africa country, which has embroiled in a virtually non-stop civil war since 1991.

The UN group said "the military stalemate is less a reflection of opposition strength than of the weakness of the Transitional Federal Government." It described government forces as "a composite of independent militias loyal to senior government officials and military officers who profit from the business of war and resist their integration under a single command." The UN group said last November the government had about 2,900 operational troops, although it could also count on the support of some militias Mogadishu thought to number between 5,000 and 10,000 fighters. However, the UN group concluded that the Somali government "owes its survival to the small African Union peace support operation AMISOM, rather than to its own troops." AMISOM currently has roughly 5,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops, who fight back nearly daily attacks on the Somali government by Shebab militants.

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) March 12, 2010
A top US official on Friday denied reports of a boost in US military aid to Somalia's transitional federal government (TFG), and said there was no intention to "Americanize" the conflict in the horn of Africa.

"We have provided limited military support to the TFG... (but) the US does not plan, does not direct, and does not coordinate the military operations of the TFG," said Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson.

He insisted that The New York Times inaccurately reported last week that US special operations forces could help the Somali government dislodge Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents Shebab from Mogadishu.

"We are not providing nor paying for military advisors for the TFG. There is no desire to Americanize the conflict in Somalia," Carson said.

Asked to comment on the Somali government's reconciliation strategy, he said the TFG should "broaden its base as much as possible, to bring in as much clan as possible."

In Washington's view, he added, "any moderate Islamists who are seeking peace, are denouncing el Shebab and want to be part of a peace process should in fact be considered for inclusion in the TFG government."

Mogadishu and other parts of central and southern Somalia under insurgent control have been bracing for a major offensive by the government and the African Union peacekeeping mission, known as AMISOM.

The head of the US Africa Command, General William Ward, told a Senate hearing Tuesday that he supported the TFG's effort to retake Mogadishu and bring stability to their nation.

US President Barack Obama's administration has stepped up support for the TFG, sending it weapons since last year to help fend off the Shebab.

Many Americans remain haunted by the last US intervention in Somalia which began as a relief operation to avert famine in the early 1990s.

In October 1993, forces loyal to warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid killed 18 US soldiers, dragging some of their bodies through the streets.

More than 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes across Somalia since the start of the year amid "relentless and indiscriminate" fighting, the UN refugee agency said Friday.

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TFG gears up for push with U.S. air power
Mogadishu, Somalia (UPI) Mar 10, 2009
The Western-backed Transitional Federal Government mustered several thousand troops, some reportedly trained in neighboring Kenya, for a major offensive against the Islamic al-Shebab militia allied with al-Qaida. On its own, the shaky TFG, which controls a few blocks of the disputed capital Mogadishu around the much-shelled presidential palace and not much else, would have little real p ... read more

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