First Ugandan peacekeepers arrive in Somalia's capital скачать в хорошем качестве

First Ugandan peacekeepers arrive in Somalia's capital

(6 Mar 2007) ++SHOTS 4-7 ARE MUTE++ 1. Various Ugandan troops with armoured vehicles 2. Various Ugandan commanders standing with Somali government officials 3. Various Ugandan military vehicles marked with AU (African Union) patrolling 4. Ugandan soldier standing in front of armoured vehicle +++AUDIO IS MUTE+++ 5. Helicopter on tarmac 6. Ugandan soldier greeting and shaking hands with Somali government soldier 7. Somali soldiers in ceremonial uniform march in honour of the Ugandan deployment. STORYLINE: A ceremony to welcome the arrival of Ugandan peacekeeping troops in Somalia was disrupted by a mortar attack on Tuesday. An Associated Press reporter said eight mortars were launched, but only two struck the airport in the capital Mogadishu. A policeman at the scene said one person was wounded. Salad Ali Jelle, Somalia's deputy defence minister, told The Associated Press he would not be making any comment on the incident until an investigation had been carried out. The Ugandan peacekeepers were arriving in Somalia's capital to help protect its transitional government and to allow for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops who, last year, helped the government topple an Islamic militia. Before being ousted, the movement known as the Council of Islamic Courts, had held the capital and much of southern Somalia for six months. Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy. Early Tuesday, two cargo aircraft carrying soldiers and armoured vehicles touched down at Mogadishu's main airport in the city centre to a welcome from top government officials. A Ugandan forces' spokesman, said 400 troops were already deployed on the ground in Mogadishu, with a further 1,100 expected to arrive in the next 24 hours. Uganda is at the vanguard of a larger African Union force authorised by the United Nations to help the Somali government assert its authority. African peacekeepers are expected to reach a level of 8-thousand troops and, according to African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit, are allowed to defend themselves if attacked, but not to initiate offensives. Rebels, believed to be the remnants of the Islamic movement that tried to seize power last year, remain at large. Late on Monday an unidentified gunmen killed seven people, including a police commander and a leading cleric, government officials and witnesses said. The police commander and another officer were ambushed at a major intersection in the centre of Mogadishu and two bystanders were wounded in the firefight, a shop owner said. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...