Brussels - European Union defence ministers are expected to give the go-ahead next week to a mission aimed at training Somalia's armed forces to fight insurgents, officials in Brussels said Friday.

Under the plan, up to 200 trainers from the armies of the EU's 27 member states would be sent to Uganda to train around 1,000-2,000 Somali troops, who would then support their country's fragile transitional government against armed insurgents.

"We think it's now time to support concretely the development of the security forces of the transitional government," said Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for the EU's top diplomat, Javier Solana.

The EU has already sent a fleet of warships to the international waters off Somalia to help fight the rising tide of piracy there, and to escort United Nations food aid vessels to port.

"One and a half million people eat every day because the escorts arrive safely," Gallach said.

But realisation has grown in recent months that the pirates will only be defeated in the long term if the Somali authorities can regain control of their war-torn nation.

After a number of exploratory missions, "we reached the conclusion that there is both a need and the possibility for the EU to train a number of the Somali forces," Gallach said.

The Somali government has asked for international help to train around 6,000 troops. France, Uganda and Djibouti have already begun their own training missions, which are estimated to be capable of training some 4,000 troops.

Defence ministers are expected to approve the basic idea for the operation on Tuesday.

"We will not be deciding to engage at that stage, but talking about what the mission could look like," a senior diplomat said.

If ministers approve the concept, as expected, EU experts would draw up a detailed operational plan. Member states would then be asked to pledge troops before ministers launch the mission formally.

Gallach indicated that that process could take until the end of the year. If launched, the mission itself would probably last for a year, she said. (dpa)