MOGADISHU : Germans to Africa

For the first time since Erwin Rommel led his Afrika Korps against Allied forces in World War II, German infantry units are scheduled to land in Africa--this time to reinforce U.N. peacekeeping efforts in Somalia.

The deployment next Monday of about 1,700 soldiers for U.N. duty in Somalia will continue through early August. It follows last month’s decision by the German Federal Constitutional Court, which ruled that the move did not violate the constitution as long as Parliament approved.

Because it marks the first time that German forces have been deployed outside the Atlantic Alliance since the war, media interest has been intense. The Munich daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that the troops are concentrating on one phrase in Somali: “U.N., ko hanaga yoogo ama waa guban,” to be repeated with the English equivalent, “U.N., stop or I fire.”