AU plea to plug Somali troop gaps
 Burundi and Uganda want air and marine units to support their troops |
African Union officials in Somalia have told the BBC they will plug the gaps left by departing Ethiopian troops.
The plan comes as Uganda and Burundi - whose peacekeepers currently comprise the AU mission in Somalia - issued an urgent appeal for reinforcements.
They also want their mandate beefed up so peacekeepers can use greater force when attacked by insurgents.
Uganda and Burundi gave the African Union (AU) a two-week deadline to act on their demand.
Ethiopia's military began pulling its 3,000-strong force out of Somalia last week two years after it helped the transitional government oust Islamists from the capital Mogadishu.
BBC Somali service correspondent Abdi Noor Mohammed says there are rumours the Ethiopians have been arming militants to take on the hardline Islamist group al-Shabab.
'Very quickly'
After a meeting on Sunday in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, the Ugandan and Burundian defence ministers said the AU's force in Somalia (Amisom) needed more troops, as well as air force and marine units.
 | SOMALIA'S WOES  3m need food aid - a third of the population 1m displaced Government only controls Baidoa Islamist groups control much of southern Somalia No effective government since 1991 Piracy on the rise  |
Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa have not yet met their pledges to send forces.
Burundi Defence Minister Gen Germain Niyoyankana said more troops were needed "very quickly" and added:
"If our conditions are not met, it's normal that our troops will be withdrawn", reported AFP news agency.
The 3,600-strong Amisom force has faced frequent attack from Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu.
The departure of Ethiopian troops, who were in charge of Mogadishu and surrounding areas of the capital, will leave a dangerous power vacuum, says the BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu.
He says that AU officials plan for Ugandan and Burundian peacekeepers to fill that void while their appeal for reinforcements is considered.
Ethiopia's departure follows an agreement with the Somali transitional government and the more moderate wing of the Islamist-led political opposition during UN-sponsored reconciliation talks in Djibouti.
Ethiopia was credited with saving Somalia's government from imminent collapse when it deployed its forces in late 2006.
But analysts say the government has not used the time to strengthen its grip on power, while the insurgency has revived in a more extreme form.
Government forces only control parts of Mogadishu and the town of Baidoa. Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991.
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