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UN Security Council extends African Union mission in Somalia

08 November 2012 19:14 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The UN Security Council has extended the mandate of the African Union peacekeepers in Somalia as the council remains divided on lifting an arms embargo on the country, APA reports quoting Press TV.

The Security Council decided on Wednesday that the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) should stay in the war-wracked country for another four months.

The African Union has appealed to the 15-member council to reconsider its arms ban on Somalia to help the country strengthen its poorly equipped, ill-disciplined military against al-Shabab and other armed anti-government groups.

But UN diplomats say the Security Council has not managed to reach an agreement on the issue.

The embargo was put into effect in 1992 to stem the flow of arms to warlords who engaged in a tug of war a year after the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Meanwhile, Uganda, whose troops account for more than one third of the 17,600-strong peacekeeping mission in Somalia, has threatened to withdraw in protest over accusations made in a UN report.

A leaked report written by the UN Group of Experts has accused Uganda and Rwanda of arming Congo’s M23 rebels, whose warlord leader has been indicted by the International Criminal Court.

The Ugandan government said it would withdraw from all peacekeeping missions unless the United Nations changed its report.

The developments come days after Somaliaâ€™s newly elected Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid unveiled a new cabinet on Sunday, keeping a delicate balance among rival clans.

After decades of rampant fighting among armed groups, Somali lawmakers elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country’s new president on September 10, 2012.