EU experts fear U.S. move could spark war

(SomaliNet) European Union experts say the United States is pushing to get a regional peacekeeping force deployed in Somalia and this could trigger a wider war in the Horn of Africa, European Commission sources said on Tuesday.

The EU executive's department for African development has warned the bloc's governments that such a deployment could give cover for a larger military operation against the Islamists who control Mogadishu.

The stark warning given to envoys of the 25 EU states said a peacekeeping operation without the consent of all sides would be seen as an "invading force" and exacerbate the risk of conflict and of jihadist attacks, the sources said.

A U.N. Security Council committee is considering what action to take after receiving a report last week finding extensive illegal arms flows into Somalia, both to the Islamic Courts Union movement and to the shaky interim government.

Commission sources said U.S. officials had drafted a document calling for a partial lifting of the arms embargo and the deployment of a regional peacekeeping force.

One EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some member states shared Brussels' misgivings but Security Council permanent members Britain and France were reluctant to oppose Washington openly because of the "terrorism issue".

The United States has accused the Islamic Courts, in the ascendancy in the lawless East African country, of harbouring al Qaeda operatives and warned that neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia could be targets of "extremist elements" from Somalia,-Reuters.