Yusuf asks Security Council for stabilisation force

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- As the UN Security Council Friday started deliberations on the Somali crisis here, interim leader Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed appealed for the deployment of a stabilisation force, saying the restoration of peace and security throughout Somalia was a major challenge.
Yusuf told the Council, which is holding its session in the Kenyan capital, that Somalia had demonstrated the "political will" in finding a peaceful solution to the 14-year turmoil with the creation of an all-inclusive parliament in September this year.
"We have succeeded in obtaining a political settlement and we are in the process of establishing the basic institutions of governance," President Yusuf said.
The Somali leader recently appointed Ali Ghedi as Prime Minister and mandated him to form a government of national unity within one month.
Somalia wants some 15,000 to 20,000 peacekeepers to help protect the government against an estimated 50,000 militias in the Horn of Africa nation with a population of seven million.
The Somali Parliament, which still sits in Nairobi due to security concerns back home, is expected to approve the recruitment of about 20,000 police officers and a national Army of about 30,000 to boost security at the same time, Yusuf told the Council.
"The deployment of the peacemaking forces from brotherly countries and the creation of a national security force would require funding from the international community," he pointed out.
"The government is working on the twin objectives of consolidating reconciliation talks with the armed groups and realising a tangible peace-building plan," he said.
Yusuf said the interim Somali government was asking the Council to "take the necessary steps" in supporting the peace-building mission, including the deployment of a stabilisation force "in the most immediate future".