UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. envoy for Somalia urged the international community on Thursday to take action to stop the violence in the conflict-wracked Horn of Africa nation and consider deploying an interim multinational force.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah told the Security Council that recent encouraging political developments by Somalia's transitional government _ including a reconciliation strategy involving local peacemaking and talks with the opposition _ must be matched by progress in improving security and protecting victims of violence.

«I believe Somalia remains a prisoner of the past _ never forgiven for the violent actions carried out against the international community in the 1990s,» he said. «There is, it seems, either a reluctance to go back there or a deliberate decision to punish all Somalis, many of whom were not even born during the last international intervention.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since clan-based warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other, sinking the poverty-stricken nation of 7 million people into chaos.

A massive U.N. relief operation was launched for thousands of civilians left starving because of fighting after Siad Barre's ouster. But in 1993, clan militia fighters shot down two Black Hawk helicopters and killed 18 U.S. servicemen in fighting. After that, the U.S. withdrew its troops and the U.N. scaled back its peacekeeping operation, eventually abandoning it in 1995. «Today, too much time is spent collecting numbers and statistics about the suffering of the Somali people,» Ould-Abdallah said. «However, the real battle to be won is to be close to and to protect the victims of armed violence, abuse of human rights, of drought and famine.

«What is needed now is engagement by the international community. I am not asking outside countries to become active for moral or altruistic reasons. They have a clearly mandated responsibility to become involved in a country where there are widespread violations of human rights and humanitarian law,» he said.

Ould-Abdallah cited the «responsibility to protect» civilians caught in armed conflict which was endorsed by world leaders at a U.N. summit in 2005 and later by the Security Council. He praised the 2,600 troops from Uganda and Burundi currently deployed in Somalia by the African Union, but stressed that improving security is the responsibility of the entire international community and should not be limited to AU or U.N. troops.

«A strong interim multinational presence could also be an option,» Ould-Abdallah said. «This would involve the Friends of Somalia contributing political support, funds and troops, to stabilize the situation preferably under a lead country. I will continue my efforts in that direction. In a report to the council this week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community Tuesday to build the foundations for peace in Somalia by strengthening U.N. political efforts and considering the possible deployment of a new 8,000-strong multinational force.

He said this could pave the way for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops who helped Somalia rout an Islamic movement in December 2006 and the possible deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force of up to 27,000 soldiers and 1,500 police.

But the report cited major security issues for a U.N. force.

Ould-Abadallah backed Ban's suggestion of a U.N. maritime task force to protect shipping and deter human smuggling and piracy, and he also strongly backed moving U.N. staff from Nairobi, Kenya to the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

He also urged that those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Somalia be brought to justice. «We have appeased the warlords, the extremists and the spoilers for too long by wielding the carrot but not the stick,» he stressed.

Uganda's U.N. Ambassador Francis Butagira urged the Security Council to move quickly to support the AU force, which has asked the U.N. for US$817 million (€529.7 million) for its Somalia operation, and to finalize plans for deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force to take over from the AU troops.