The UN Security Council will not approve the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in Somalia unless its security situation improves, the council's president said Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin made the comments to reporters after the 15-member body held a closed-door meeting to discuss the recent developments in the Horn of Africa state.
The council was briefed by UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe on the political situation and support for peacekeeping efforts in that country. Pascoe presented to the council the latest report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Somalia.
Council members "broadly agreed with the strategy in the report of the secretary-general that improvement of the security situation and real progress in the political process are prerequisites for a decision by the Security Council on possible deployment of a UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia," Churkin said.
"There is unanimity in the council with respect to the need to continue coordinated international efforts to combat piracy in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions," he added.
Somalia, backed by the African Union, has been calling for the council to dispatch a UN peacekeeping force to buttress the transitional government's efforts to bring order to the conflict- torn country.
In the report, Ban recommended "an incremental approach" to the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force, saying that such a goal can only be achieved when certain conditions, including improved security situation and political progress, are fulfilled.
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