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| Africa Subsaharan |
| AU debates action against terror threat amid split on Bashir |
| 2010-07-27 |
| [The Nation (Nairobi)] African leaders met behind closed doors to discuss boosting the African Union's force in Somalia following a plea by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to "sweep the terrorists" off the continent. Meanwhile, Zambian President Rupiah Banda said Zambia will not send peacekeepers to Somalia. Asked whether Zambia will send troops to Somalia, President Banda, who attended the opening session of the AU heads of state and government summit in Uganda yesterday, told journalists in Lusaka that the southern African country was not in the position to deploy troops to Somalia at the moment. "No! Certainly not! We haven't got the facilities. We are struggling to improve the conditions of our army here. Sending them there is a big assignment which perhaps with our commitment of development at home, it will be difficult," President Banda said. The Zambian leader condemned the terrorist bombings in Kampala that killed at least 74 people a fortnight ago. It is very important to stand by each other when there are such problems, he said. "Naturally, I think we should all be concerned when such things are happening. It's not a good thing," said President Banda. The AU heads of state meeting in Uganda came two weeks after Somalia's Al Qaeda-linked Shabaab claimed suicide bombings that killed 76 in Kampala and as the North African arm of the terror network executed a French hostage in Mali. More than 30 heads of state from the AU's 53 members gathered amid unprecedented security in the Ugandan capital, with the growing regional impact of the Somali chaos topping the agenda. The AU summit observed two minutes of silence for the victims of the attacks two weeks ago. Mr Museveni said many of those behind the Kampala attacks have been arrested and "interrogations have yielded very good information." The two bombings were meant to bully Uganda into pulling out of the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the last thing standing between the Shabab and total power. Uganda reacted by saying it could send 2,000 more troops and urged more decisive international support, while the embattled Somali government argued the attacks were evidence Somalia required the world's attention. AU Commission chief Jean Ping said on Friday Guinea was ready to send troops to Somalia and the force could soon surpass its intended strength of 8,000. According to diplomats, Angola, Mozambique and South Africa may also pledge troops to Amisom, whose current deployment consists of just over 6,000 Ugandans and Burundians. Mr Ping also reiterated that the African Union was seeking a tougher mandate for Amisom under the United Nations Charter's chapter seven, allowing it to take more aggressive action. "If this request is answered positively, our troops will attack," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |