Uganda ruling MPs approve Somalia troop deployment

KAMPALA, Jan 19 (Reuters) Uganda's ruling party has approved a plan to send peacekeeping troops to Somalia, officials said today, making the deployment almost certain to go ahead.

President Yoweri Museveni has pledged 1,000 troops to a proposed 8,000-strong peacekeeping force under a UN-approved plan to pacify the chaotic Horn of Africa country.

The deployment still has to be approved by parliament, which plans to meet in the next two weeks to discuss it.

But a spokesman for Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, which dominates parliament, Ofwono Opondo, said the 237 ruling party MPs approved the plan yesterday, making it almost certain to go ahead.

''The NRM caucus has approved the deployment of troops to Somalia,'' he said. ''That is more than two thirds of MPs, so it is a forgone conclusion.'' Diplomats have called for an urgent deployment of troops to prevent a security vacuum as Ethiopia, which last month routed Islamists and enabled Somalia's transitional government to take control of Mogadishu for the first time, pulls out.

The African Union's Peace and Security Council is meeting later today in Addis Ababa to discuss the deployment plans.

Opondo said Uganda's parliament would still discuss some outstanding issues when it meets.

''They want to state how long the troops will be there and determine compensation for families if someone dies.'' Analysts say parliament rarely challenges legislation once Museveni has signalled he is behind it. But a spokeswoman for parliament cautioned against counting on Ugandan troops before a final parliamentary debate.

''NRM is a majority but you never know what can happen once it is discussed on the floor,'' Helen Kawesa said.

Reuters PB RN1510