The African Union says it will send a fact-finding mission to Somalia after the country's newly-elected president, Abdullahi Yusuf, asked for 20,000 peacekeeping troops to help disarm militias there.
Mr Yusuf made his request at a meeting with senior African Union officials in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The African Union will consider the request tomorrow.
Somalia's central authority collapsed after the military dictator, Mohamed Siad Barre, was ousted in 1991.
The UN's Special Envoy to Somalia, Winston Tubman, said Mr Yusuf was right to expect to return to a secure country.
