On
Somalia, With
EU & US
"Too Cheap"
for Naval
Component,
Amendments?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 1 --
At the UN on
Somalia, it's
war. Not on Al
Shabaab, but
about the
Kenyan naval
component of
the AMISOM
mission.
In
the UN
Security
Council,
African
sources in and
beyond the
Council
say, European
members and
now the United
States are
"too cheap"
to pay for the
Kenyan naval
assets they
"used" to take
and
hold Kismayo.
The
AMISOM mandate
was set to
expire on
October 31. In
a rare
session
outside of
Security
Council
chambers,
with a short
text "put in
blue" by UN
staff working
from their
homes, the
Council agreed
to roll over
the mandate
for a mere
seven
days. Click here
for Inner City
Press
in-person
coveage of
that meeting
and vote.
But,
sources say,
there is a
move to put a
longer
resolution
into blue --
without
including the
"naval
component" of
AMISOM.
The
non-Europeans
are incensed;
there is talk
of amendments
"from
the floor of
the Council"
to put the
naval issue
forward.
This
follow-the-money
issue is
alongside
another, about
an exemption
to
allow the sale
of charcoal
built up in
Kismayo. But
to reduce this
story to
"paternalist"
EU and US only
caring about
the
welfare of
Somalia -- can
they buy
weapons, can
they sell
charcoal --
would be
misleading.
As several
African
diplomats put
it to Inner
City
Press on
Thursday, "the
Europeans are
just cheap."
Watch
this site.
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