African leaders seek sanctions on Eritrea

By Christian Lowe

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - African leaders asked the United Nations on Friday to impose sanctions on Eritrea, saying it was aiding the Islamist rebels fighting government forces in nearby Somalia.

But the African Union, at a summit in Libya, did not adopt a proposed resolution to give African Union peacekeepers in Somalia a mandate to do more than just defend themselves from rebel attacks.

In the third day of heavy fighting in the north of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, at least 16 people were killed and 30 were wounded, according to hospital officials, taking the death toll since Wednesday to more than 50.

The United Nations, Somalia's government and other groups accuse Eritrea of sending weapons and providing training for the insurgents. Eritrean officials deny that.

The 53-member African Union, meeting in the Libyan city of Sirte, adopted a resolution condemning insurgent attacks in Somalia and backing the government.

The resolution said the Union "issues an appeal to the United Nations Security Council ... to impose sanctions on all outside actors, either in the region or beyond, in particular Eritrea, which provide support to armed groups."

It also asked the UN to impose a sea blockade and no-fly zone to stop weapons and other supplies reaching the rebels.

Western nations and Somalia's neighbours worry that if the rebels, who have links to al Qaeda, succeed in toppling the government, the Horn of Africa nation will become a safe haven for Islamist militant training camps.