Ugandan approval for Somali force

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Ugandan MPs have approved the deployment of 1,500 peacekeepers to Somalia as part of an African Union force to replace Ethiopian troops.

The soldiers are mandated to shoot back if attacked. A date for their deployment is expected within 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Somalia's prime minister has vowed to bring the leaders of the ousted Islamist movement to justice.

His comments come a day after a fresh outbreak of fighting in the Somali capital blamed on Islamist remnants.

The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), who controlled most of Somalia for six months last year, were overthrown in December by Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces.

The US and European Union have urged the government to talk to all Somali parties, including moderate Islamists.

Somalia has not had an effective national government for 16 years.

Mandate

Ugandan Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga told parliamentarians the peace force - which had a six-month mandate - had three responsibilities:

<ul class="bulletList"><li>peacekeeping operations</li><li>supporting the transitional government to stabilise the country</li><li>helping out with humanitarian aid.</li>

</ul>

The cost would come out of the existing defence budget, with AU to fund any extra costs

I do not want to wait for death in my dangerous house Halima Hashi DahirSomali resident

Burundi, Nigeria and Ghana have also agreed to send peacekeepers, as part of an 8,000-thousand strong AU force intended to help keep order now that Ethiopian troops have begun pulling out.

The AU's peace and security council in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, has set up two working groups to oversee military and financial planning for such an operation.

A decision on when the AU force will start deploying is expected within 24 hours.

Fleeing

The BBC's Mohamed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says hundreds of people are fleeing the Somali capital because of the continuing insecurity.

No-one has claimed responsibility for a series of mortar attacks

"For the last two weeks a day has hardly passed without shelling and heavy gunfire pounding our residential areas, so I do not want to wait for death in my dangerous house," said Halima Hashi Dahir who is preparing to leave his home close to an Ethiopian military camp.

A bus driver who travels out of Mogadishu daily confirmed that many residents have been fleeing.

"People mainly women and children have been leaving the city for nearby regions for the last three days," Abdi Shakur Abdi-karin told the BBC.

Interim Somali prime minister said that what is happening in Mogadishu is a clear sign that there are still opportunists not willing for peace.

"To address this issue the government has its plans of mobilising its security forces in order to safeguard the innocent Somali people under the threat of the remnants of the so-called Islamic courts and their terrorist alliances," Ali Mohamed Ghedi told reporters in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

He dismissed calls for him to talk to moderates like UIC leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

"Do you believe that they are innocent after the massacre - the killing, the destruction - made by the so-called former Islamic courts? They are not innocent, they are not innocent. One day or another they will be brought to justice," he said.