The African Union (AU) approved sending a peacekeeping mission to war-torn Somalia, paving the way for some 8,000 troops to enter but leaving the origin of those forces unclear. Diplomats have pushed for a quick deployment of a peacekeeping force to avoid a security vacuum after Ethiopian troops withdraw, which could come as early as this week, according to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The AU said its peacekeeping mission would "attempt to conduct the initial stabilization phase of Somalia and create the necessary conditions for the UN to take over." The AU sent a fact-finding mission to Somalia, which concluded that nine battalions - a total of around 8,000 soldiers - would suffice. The UN passed a resolution late last year that would see the deployment of UN peacekeepers to held rebuild Somalia. Experts fear the AU will be unable to support another peacekeeping mission, as its cash-strapped deployment in Sudan's embattled Darfur region struggles to secure the area. So far, only Uganda has approved sending a force to Somalia, with South Africa and Tanzania, among few others, pondering the decision. Ethiopian forces staged a two-week assault on Somalia last month in a bid to overthrow Islamists who controlled most of the country since last June. After the ousted group retreated south, the US joined the fray, striking at the final stronghold of the Islamists, whose leadership Washington believes has ties to al-Qaeda. The government rolled into the capital Mogadishu alongside the Ethiopian troops last month, having been until then limited to its base in the western town of Baidoa. It has since been attempting to assert its control over the anarchic capital. Somalia has been without effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre swept the country into lawlessness and warlord rule.
