December 18, 2008	Thursday	Zilhaj 19, 1429

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17: UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday differed with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s view that a UN peacekeeping operation is needed in lawless Somalia at this time.

Addressing the UN Security Council on Tuesday during a vote authorizing for the first time international land operations against armed pirates sheltering in Somalia, Rice said it was time “to authorize a UN peacekeeping operation” in the Horn of Africa country.

But the UN secretary general on Wednesday told a press conference that he and his top advisers concluded that “the situation is not ripe” for such a force.

“Conditions are not favourable to consider a UN peacekeeping operation,” he said, as there was no peace to keep in the war-torn country.

He said the most appropriate response to Somalia’s security challenge was “a multinational force (MNF), rather than a typical peacekeeping operation.” Ethiopian troops, who intervened in Somalia in 2006 to prop up the weak transitional government, will be withdrawn early next month, leaving a ill-equipped and under-strength 3,400-strong African Union force on its own to face a resurgent Islamic rebellion.

“The danger of anarchy in Somalia is clear and present. So is the need to act,” Ban told the press conference.

He said he had approached leaders of 50 countries and three international organizations for contributions to an MNF.

“Not one nation has volunteered to lead,” Ban said.

Instead, he said he recommended greater efforts to bolster the inter-Somali peace process, reinforcing the capacity of the AU force “through funding, equipment and training” or training Somali forces and establishing a maritime task force to set the stage for “a possible UN peacekeeping operation.” He also welcomed as “timely” the Security Council’s decision on Tuesday “to authorise action against pirates on land in Somalia.” Increasingly emboldened, pirates have carried out more than 100 attacks in the key shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean since the start of this year.

Last month, they captured the world’s attention when they hijacked the Saudi-owned super-tanker Sirius Star, carrying two million barrels of crude oil, and demanded a 25-million dollar ransom for the boat and its crew.

It is one of about 17 ships, including an arms-laden Ukrainian cargo vessel, currently in pirate hands.—AFP