Saturday, July 24, 2010
The African Union should take strong action against Somalia following the bombings in Kampala, Uganda, Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang'ula has said.
Speaking during the opening of the Executive Council of the African Union Friday in Kampala, Mr Wetang'ula called for strengthening the AU military operation in Somalia, AMISOM, from “peacekeeping to peace-making.”
Specifically, he called for the AU to strengthen the East African Standby Brigade, or EASBRIC, so that it might better deal with the Somalia security threat.
He further expressed condolences to the people and government of Uganda, where two separate bombs killed nearly 100 people as they watched the World Cup finals.
The attack, Mr Wetangula said, was worrisome because it represented a departure from attacks directed toward western interests and represented a “new and worrying” threat of violence by Africans on Africans.
Although most of the victims in the Dar es Salaam and Nairobi bombings were African, he pointed out that these Africans had unfortunately suffered from anger that was primarily directed at Americans.
Mr Wetang'ula also met with an unnamed South African foreign affairs official to call for South Africa to ramp up a response to the regional security threat that Somali pirates pose to trade in the Gulf of Aden.
The official, however, urged the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) to determine a proper Somalia policy.
As regards piracy, South Africa promised to engage in the area of sharing intelligence.
Source: Daily Nation