Ban says Somalia may need "coalition of the willing"

By Patrick Worsnip

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A "coalition of the willing" may be needed to enforce peace in Somalia, where U.S. peacekeepers came to grief in the 1990s, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in a new report.

In a report to the Security Council made available on Friday, Ban called on the 15-nation body to consider in June whether a conventional U.N. peacekeeping force could succeed in the lawless East African country or something more was needed.

Ban said a U.N. force might work if fighting stopped in south-central Somalia and all or most armed groups and communities signed up to an agreement allowing for outside monitoring.

In that case, U.N. involvement "would primarily focus on technical assistance to the reconciliation efforts, as well as on reconstruction and development, supported by an appropriate United Nations peacekeeping presence," he said.

But if the political process fails and violence gets worse, "alternative options, including peace enforcement, should be considered," he said.

"An operation, mandated by the United Nations, mounted by and composed of a coalition of the willing with the appropriate capabilities to deal with the high paramilitary threat, would be better suited" to such a situation.

The term "coalition of the willing" refers to a group of like-minded countries that decide to take action in a trouble spot but are not under U.N. control.

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