International donors pledged today to give Somalia more than $250 million to build up its security forces, fight piracy and restore order, a senior EU official said.
Donors made the pledges at a conference in Brussels at which United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Somalia's president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, appealed for funds to help end two decades of lawlessness in the east African country.
The seizure of ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean by Somali gangs has driven up insurance rates and other costs in sea lanes linking Europe to Asia, and Washington has long tried to ensure al Qaeda cannot operate in Somalia.
"We are on target. We are even a little bit higher. The target was 250 million dollars. It seems we are above 250," Louis Michel, the European Union's commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, told reporters.
He declared the conference a "full success".
Organisers of the meeting, chaired by Ban and the African Union, had said more than $250 million was needed for next year to improve security in a state which has had no central government since 1991 and is mired in conflict.
EU officials said the aim was to build up a police force of some 10,000 personnel and a security force of 5,000. Support is also sought for the 4,300-strong African Union mission AMISOM.
"Restoring security and stability in Somalia is vital to the success of the reconciliation effort and the survival of the unity government," Ban told the conference, held under the auspices of the United Nations. "Much remains to be done."
Ban reiterated he had no intention of sending a UN force to Somalia any time soon, saying peacekeepers would go only when "circumstances and conditions are appropriate".
SUPPORT FOR AHMED
Many world leaders say Ahmed, a former Islamist rebel leader elected at U.N.-brokered talks in January, offers the best hope in years of restoring stability, though his administration is the 15th attempt in 18 years to set up a central government.
More than one million people have been uprooted by fighting in the past two years and one third of the population survives on food aid.
"We are firmly determined to undertake reforms ... to try to alleviate the suffering of the Somali people. However, we can only achieve real progress if we manage to restore security to the country," Ahmed said.
He, Ban and EU leaders underlined the need to combat the gangs involved in piracy on land as well as at sea.
Piracy has worsened off Somalia's coast despite the presence of naval forces from more than a dozen countries, including task forces under NATO, EU and S. command.
NATO's four-ship mission was due to wind up its operation today. Diplomats were discussing whether it could be extended and NATO has said it wants tougher rules to allow the detention of captured suspects.
The United States, which is reviewing its Somalia policy, plans to help build Somali security forces and bolster the new government but has made clear it has no desire to "drive" the whole process.