East African nations announce plans for Somali peacekeeping force
East African defense chiefs expect to have the vanguard of a peacekeeping force for Somalia ready by the end of next month, officials have said, despite fierce objections from powerful Islamists in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation. Under revised plans for the mission agreed here late Thursday, the first elements of the nearly 7,000-strong regional force are to assemble in northeast Kenya near the Somali border in late September, the officials said. Full Story