20100727
allafrica

Leaders from East Africa and from the Horn of Africa agreed on Monday that additional troops would be deployed to Mogadishu to beef up the 6,000-strong African Union force. Somalia's foreign minister says the African Union and the international community must stand up to the new threat of terrorism emanating from the war-ravaged country and step in militarily.

Islamist rebels known as Al-Shebab claimed responsibility for recent bombings in Kampala. The attacks appear to have galvanised a new wave of support for the transitional federal government.

"The security of Somalia has been neglected for a very long time, which created a negative impact both on the Somali people and on the world," says Somalia's Foreign Minister Yusuf Dheg. "In order to make Somalia a responsible government, African countries and the international community should take their responsibility and help the Somali government by establishing security forces, which would be the most suitable way of guaranteeing peace and progress as well as stability."

He dismissed the objections of some countries, such as Eritrea, which has said that direct action in Somalia will create a situation like that in Iraq.

The European Union has committed itself to training troops for Somalia.

"We are appreciating the position of the European Union to help Somalia both in Kenya and in Uganda to train their Somali nationals so they can assume their responsibility of security in Somalia," says Dheg.