Kenya to stay course in quest to stabilise Somalia - President
Sun Sep 21, 2014 12:16pm GMT
* Kenyatta says more resources given to security
* Memorials held for attack on Nairobi mall one year ago
* Nearly three years since troops entered Somalia
By George Obulutsa
NAIROBI, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Kenyan troops will keep fighting Islamist
militants in Somalia until peace and stability is restored to the region,
President Uhuru Kenyatta said, one year after gunmen stormed a shopping mall
in his country's capital.
Militants belonging to Somalia's al Qaeda-allied al Shabaab attacked
Nairobi's upmarket Westgate shopping mall on Sept. 21, 2013, killing at
least 67 people in an attack that evolved into a four-day siege.
Al Shabaab, which is fighting Kenyan and other African soldiers who are part
of a U.N.-mandated African Union force in Somalia, has repeatedly threatened
more attacks on Kenyan soil if the country does not withdraw its troops.
"We have all seen the gains made from our defence forces' assignment in
Somalia. We must not betray Kenyans by suggesting that the work be abandoned
uncompleted," Kenyatta wrote in an article published in Kenya's Sunday
Nation newspaper.
"We owe it to our country as well as our brothers and sisters in Somalia to
stay the course until the mission is completed so that East Africa and the
Horn of Africa enjoy peace and stability."
Memorials for those who died at Westgate are being held in various parts of
the country, including the site of the attack.
The opposition CORD coalition -- which stood by President Uhuru Kenyatta
during the Westgate assault but has since blamed the government for security
failings -- called in July for the withdrawal of Kenyan troops from Somalia.
A poll by Ipsos Kenya published on Saturday showed most Kenyans also want
the soldiers to leave the neighbouring Horn of African nation. Just 19
percent of those surveyed thought Kenyan troops should stay in Somalia as
they are.
The rest were, however, divided as to whether the Kenyan soldiers should
come home unconditionally, move back just to protect the Kenyan border or
only leave Somalia when other African troops can replace them.
Kenyan troops first launched an incursion against al Shabaab in October
2011, accusing them of raids inside Kenya, and eventually seized control of
the southern port of Kismayu.
HIGH THREAT
Experts say Kenya's security forces, which receive support and training from
the United States, Britain, Israel and other nations, are hampered by a
failure to share intelligence and poor command structures.
"One year after Westgate Kenya's security preparedness seems to have
stagnated and key reforms within the security and intelligence apparatus
have yet to be implemented," Ahmed Salim, a senior associate at Teneo
Intelligence consultancy in Dubai.
"The lack of coordination and sharing of intelligence was on full display
during the attack and the days after. This is still a challenge," he said,
pointing to June attacks in and around the coastal town of Mpeketoni which
killed about 65 people.
The Ipsos poll underlined general concerns about security in Kenya. Only
three percent of Kenyans surveyed thought there was no risk "at all" from al
Shabaab and 68 percent believed the threat from the group was extremely
high.
Kenyatta said in his article that the government had increased resources
available to security agencies.
"My government is doing everything it can, and succeeding. A great deal of
commendable effort has been expended by our security institutions to prevent
terrorist attacks," he said.
Salim said the appointment of Major-General Philip Kameru, whom the
government praised for intelligence work in Somalia, to head Kenya's
National Intelligence Service could improve coordination. But said critics
were still surprised no senior figures were fired over the handling of
Westgate.
Traders who returned to the damaged mall after the attack said their stores
were looted. The army later admitted at least two soldiers stole some
property.
To mark the anniversary of the attack, al Shabaab said it would publish a
series of articles titled "The Westgate attack and the Wicked Position of
Evil Scholars" to show the significance of the strike.
The attack was followed by a string of gun and grenade attacks at the Kenyan
coast and in the capital that prompted some Western nations to warn citizens
against travel to parts of the country, hitting the tourist industry.
"This is a very bad year for us, it actually might be the worst since
2007-2008. Hotels in North Coast are closing at such a time when ordinarily
they would be bursting at the seams with tourists," Sam Ikwaye, head of the
Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and caterers, Coast region, told Reuters.
(Writing by George Obulutsa; additional reporting by Humphrey Malalo in
Nairobi, Joseph Akwiri in Mombasa, Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu; editing by
David Clarke)