EU eyes Somalia army training mission by end of the year

EU eyes Somalia army training mission by end of the year

Brussels - The European Union hopes to launch a training mission aimed at helping Somalia's armed forces fight insurgents by the end of this year, the bloc's top diplomats said Tuesday. The Somali government has asked for international help to train around 6,000 troops. France, Uganda and Djibouti have already begun their own training missions, which are estimated to be capable of training some 4,000 troops.
Under plans being discussed by EU foreign and defence ministers in Brussels, between 80 and 200 trainers from the armies of the bloc's 27 member states would be sent to Uganda to instruct around 1,000-2,000 Somali troops, who would then defend their country's fragile transitional government against armed insurgents.
Today "we are taking one step. I would foresee that we have a final decision before the end of the year," said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who was chairing the talks in Brussels as the current holder of the EU presidency.
Bildt said the mission was designed to help "a country devastated by 18 years of turmoil and civil strife."
"We have a weak and fragile government which has great difficulties in consolidating the situation. If there is anything we can do to strengthen it, we should do it," Bildt said.
Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, confirmed that the aim was to have the mission in place "before the new year", noting that contacts were already being made in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
The EU is still struggling to find recruitments for its 400-strong police training mission in Afghanistan.
But Sweden's defence minister, Sten Tolgfors, said he was confident that enough trainers would be found for the Somali mission.
The EU has already sent a fleet of warships to international waters off Somalia to help fight the rising tide of piracy there, and to escort United Nations food aid vessels to port.
But there is growing realisation in Brussels that the pirates will only be defeated in the long term if the Somali authorities can regain control of their war-torn nation.
"There is general acknowledgement that the troubles we see at sea do not stem at sea, but on land. That is the reason why many countries are interested in discussing what can be done on land," Tolgfors said.
"The numbers we are now talking about (for the Somali mission) are quite realistic," said Tolgfors, who however refused to be drawn on numbers.
The minister also confirmed EU plans to extend its anti-piracy Atalanta mission into 2010.