United Nations Radio

The African Union has approved an increase in its 6,000-strong force serving in Somalia (AMISOM). The decision was made during the African Union summit, which ended on Tuesday in Uganda's capital, Kampala. The UN envoy for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, attended the summit. I asked him about the outcome.

4th Burundian AMISOM battalion

MAHIGA: There will be an additional deployment of 2,000 troops which are part of the troop levels that had been authorized by the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and endorsed by the Security Council of the United Nations.

PENN: Do we know which countries they will come from because currently the troops in Somalia are from Burundi and Uganda?

MAHIGA: Burundi and Uganda have indicated their willingness, and they have on stand-by additional troops. Burundi, for example, has 1,700 troops on stand-by, and Uganda is ready to provide another 2,000. But there was great response from other African countries, and Guinea, for example, has immediately indicated it is ready to provide a battalion if the logistics of lifting that battalion would be available immediately. And there is also an immediate offer from Djibouti, and several countries are sending military missions to Somalia to see the extent to which they can participate. There is definitely a heightened interest and concern by African countries, and to the indications are that more troops would be required. The levels might at some point go beyond 8,000 and up to 20,000.

PENN: Do we know when these extra forces will be deployed to Mogadishu?

MAHIGA: They have urged expeditious deployment. And in this deployment, the United Nations is involved in providing logistic support and other necessary requirements for putting the troops on the ground. And there are countries that are ready to lift the troops from the respective countries, mainly the United States and the European Union and Algeria. And according to our possibilities in the UN, it could be within the next 30 to 40 days, and we are preparing for that kind of contingency planning to be able to bring the troops to Somalia within 30 days and maximum 45 days.

PENN: The troops, of course, and Somalia citizens are being affected by the activities of Al Shabaab, the group that is in Somalia that reportedly has ties to Al Qaeda. Are there any efforts underway to engage this group?

MAHIGA: No. At the moment, the Transitional Government is ready and willing to dialogue with any groups inside Somalia except the Al Shabaab because the ideological and political position is really mutually exclusive with the political and ideological position of the Transitional Government, particularly on the use of violence. The Al Shabaab is bent on using violence and the Transitional Government can welcome and talk to groups that are willing to renounce violence and engage in a participatory, inclusive and transparent discussion and reconciliation. At the moment, there are no plans underway to talk to the Al Shabaab.

PENN: Of course the Summit took place in Kampala which just suffered two deadly twin attacks. And I'm sure this background had some influence or some role to play in the summit.

MAHIGA: No, definitely. On the sidelines of the Summit a meeting was convened by the United States of America which brought together the Heads of State of the region, namely Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia, as well as the representatives of the governments of the United Kingdom, Norway, Italy, France, to discuss the response to the threat posed by Al Shabaab beyond the borders of Somalia. And this has been an opportunity to heighten and to increase the response that we are witnessing now. And there will be a joint demarche that will be advocating for greater assistance and support to AMISOM. And certainly this bombing has had this other side: despite the tragedy that it has created, but at the same time it has generated tremendous sympathy, support and political will, not only in the African continent but globally on the whole.

PRES: Augustine Mahiga is the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN Political Office for Somalia.

Duration: 4'24"