From: Eri News (er_news@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Aug 06 2009 - 06:40:28 EDT
Clinton Urges Eritrea to Stop Backing Somali Militia (Update2)
By Janine Zacharia
Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Eritrea should stop backing Islamist rebels opposed to Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, whose government represents the “best hope” for a return to stability in the war- torn country.
The U.S. accuses Eritrea of funneling weapons and funds to the al-Shabaab militia, which for the past two months has been pressing an offensive in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in its bid to oust Sharif.
“It is long past time for Eritrea to cease and desist its support for al-Shabaab,” Clinton told reporters today at a joint briefing with Sharif in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
More than 140,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Mogadishu since June 1 amid the Islamist offensive, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on July 27. The rebels, including the Hisb-ul-Islam movement, control most of southern and central Somalia following a two-year war.
After the meeting, Sharif said the Americans pledged military and humanitarian aid to his government.
“In terms of promises there were many,” Sharif said of his meeting with Clinton. “Promises on the security front, there were promises on the humanitarian front. When they materialize, it will be very helpful to the people of Somalia.”
Arms, Logistical Support
The U.S. has already supplied 40 tons of arms and munitions to Somalia since fighting broke out May 7 in an effort to bolster Sharif’s government. It has also provided more than $135 million in training, equipment and logistical support to an African Union peacekeeping mission in the country, Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said last month.
Al-Shabaab has been accused by the U.S. of providing safe- haven and logistical support to al-Qaeda, which aims to establish a caliphate, or Islamic government, in Somalia. Hisb- ul-Islam is led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the former head of the Islamic Courts Union that captured most of southern Somalia in 2006 before being ousted by U.S.-backed Ethiopian soldiers the following year.
Aweys was previously based in Asmara, capital of Eritrea. The Eritrean government has denied it supports Aweys.
“If al-Shabaab were to obtain a haven in Somalia, which could then attract al-Qaeda and other actors, it would be a threat to the United States,” Clinton said.
Foreign Fighters
Al-Qaeda has sent as many as 300 fighters to Somalia to support Islamists and warlords seeking to topple Sharif’s government, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s top political aide, Lynn Pascoe, told the Security Council in May. The foreigners are training al-Shabaab fighters and helping them mobilize funds and weapons, Nicolas Bwakira, the head of the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia, said on May 22.
“We believe his government is the best hope we’ve had in quite some time for a return to stability and the possibility of progress in Somalia,” Clinton said today. The Somali government “is in a much stronger position now.”
Clinton said ahead of the meeting with Sharif that the U.S. is prepared to support the efforts of the African Union peacekeeping mission to restore order in Somalia. The country is in its 18th year of civil war and hasn’t had a functioning central administration since the ouster of Mohamed Siad Barre, the former dictator, in 1991.
The African Union Mission in Somalia, or Amisom, currently has 3,750 peacekeepers in Somalia, 2,050 from Uganda and 1,700 from Burundi, according to its Web site.
Earlier today, Clinton visited a memorial park in Nairobi to commemorate the victims of the terrorist bombings on Aug. 7, 1998, of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and neighboring Tanzania. At least 224 people died in the simultaneous attacks.
Clinton also addressed a town hall meeting in Nairobi. She flies to Johannesburg today, the second stop on her seven-nation Africa tour.
To contact the reporter on this story: Janine Zacharia in Nairobi, Kenya at jzacharia@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: August 6, 2009 10:35 EDT
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