By Tsegaye Tadesse ADDIS ABABA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Nigerian troops are expected to strengthen an African force in Somalia in January and prevent a security vacuum when Ethiopian soldiers pull out, the African Union said on Sunday. Ethiopia's decision to withdraw its 3,000 or so troops from the anarchic Horn of Africa nation by the end of the year has raised fears the fractured, Western-backed government will collapse and Islamist insurgents seize the capital Mogadishu. The Islamists control the south of Somalia and launch near-daily attacks on the Ethiopians propping up the government and 3,200 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi guarding key sites in Mogadishu. "The president of Nigeria has confirmed to me personally that one Nigerian battalion will be sent to Somalia in a short time," African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping said. "He told me that the troops are equipped and ready, which makes me believe they will be sent in January," Ping told a meeting of regional foreign ministers. The battalion, preparing for deployment since August, numbers about 850 officers and men. More than 10,000 civilians have been killed during the two-year insurgency, a million people have been uprooted and a third of the population need emergency aid. The chaos has led to an increase in kidnappings and offshore piracy. Somalia's transitional government is also on the brink of collapse because of a rift between President Abdullahi Yusuf and Nur Hassan Hussein, the man he sacked as prime minister. Washington and the African Union have sided with Hussein, accusing Yusuf of being an obstacle to peace and refusing to recognise a new prime minister he appointed last week. IMMEDIATE SANCTIONS The ministers in Addis Ababa at the meeting of the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the regional body spearheading the Somali peace process, agreed on Sunday to impose immediate sanctions on Yusuf. "(IGAD) regrets the attempts by President Abdullahi Yusuf to unconstitutionally appoint a new prime minister that IGAD does not recognise and decides to impose sanctions on him and his associates immediately," it said in a statement. Kenya said this week it could impose a travel ban and asset freeze on Somali leaders deemed to be hindering the process. Both Yusuf and Hussein are reported to be in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. IGAD said it supported Kenya's intention to take action against Yusuf and called on other member states, the African Union and the United Nations to take similar steps. The African Union's Peace and Security Council will meet in Addis Ababa on Monday to discuss Somalia. The sanctions show how frustrated regional leaders have become with Somalia's feuding politicians at a time when Islamists are threatening to overrun Mogadishu. The African Union force was intended to number 8,000 but attempts to find more soldiers have so far floundered. Uganda and Burundi have a battalion each ready to go, but need financial support and equipment to deploy. The United Nations has also failed to put together a force to stabilise Somalia. Fighting late on Friday between Islamists and Ethiopian soldiers in Mogadishu left at least two civilians dead and eight wounded, according to witnesses. On Sunday, a convoy of Ugandan troops came under attack by insurgents on the road to the airport, according to Major Barigye Ba-Hoku, spokesmen for the AU force in Somalia. He said one soldier was wounded. (Additional reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Ibrahim Mohamed in Mogadishu, writing by David Clarke, editing by Tim Pearce)
A Melka Guba villager holds her sick and malnourished child in the village around Negele, southern Oromia, Ethiopia, in this November 18, 2008 handout photo. Successive years of drought have had ...
