The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution today that opens the door to a stronger UN presence in Somalia and possible deployment of UN peacekeepers in the Horn of Africa country.
In the resolution, the Security Council explicitly backed a recent report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his preparations for a UN force that would replace African Union peacekeepers, known as AMISOM.
The resolution includes language proposed by South Africa, a strong advocate of sending UN troops to Somalia, in which the council explicitly says it will "consider . . . a peacekeeping operation to take over from AMISOM" if conditions are right.
Somalia's transitional government is expected to welcome the resolution, even though the text contains no hard promises that the council will eventually deploy UN peacekeepers in Somalia as the government has repeatedly requested.
While all 15 council members agree the situation is dire, most have been reluctant to send UN peacekeepers to Somalia, where warlords, Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces clash almost daily.
In February the Security Council extended for six months UN endorsement of the AU peacekeeping mission. It consists of two Ugandan battalions, totalling 1,600 troops, and an advance party of 192 Burundians.
The British-drafted text says the council is also concerned about human rights in Somalia and the "worsening humanitarian situation."