Mbeki: Africa must help Somalia

2007-01-12 18:54

Cape Town - Africa has no choice but to help bring peace to war-torn Somalia, said President Thabo Mbeki on Friday, but did not say on whether South Africa (SA) was to send troops to any such effort.

"For the sake of both Somalia and our continent as a whole, Africa has no choice but to come to the aid of this sister African country," he said in his first weekly newsletter for 2007, published on his party's ANC Today website.

Mbeki said Somalia had, over time, fallen apart and ceased to exist as a viable state.

"This has led to the eventuality that, as the year 2007 began, Somalia put itself firmly at the top of the African Agenda."

While it was true Somalia remained an independent state, it had, for the past 15 years, been the victim of a protracted internal conflict.

This had "resulted in the collapse of the state, the death of an estimated one million Somalis, the emigration of thousands as refugees, and the impoverishment of millions as a result of severe and sustained socio-economic regression".

Complicating the situation in that country, "allegations have now been made that international terrorist groups have established themselves in Somalia".

SA seen as fighting US's war

Mbeki was apparently referring to United States air strikes earlier this week, carried out against suspected al-Qaeda groups within Somalia.

Earlier on Friday, a South African foreign affairs official, speaking on condition of anonymity, was reported to have said SA was hesitant to send troops to Somalia.

The official said sending troops to Somalia might result in SA being seen as fighting the US's war on terror, and that any peacekeeping there would lose credibility.

A call has been made on African countries to provide 8 000 troops to help with peacekeeping in Somalia.

Ibrahim Gambari, the UN undersecretary-general for political affairs, said earlier this week that while no countries had made commitments, several nations were considering sending personnel.

He named Nigeria, SA and Malawi as countries considering sending troops.

Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was reported on Tuesday as saying SA had not yet been asked to contribute forces.

"Usually we don't cross bridges until we come to them. We will wait for that request," she reportedly said at the time.

Mbeki said Somalia had turned into a "source of regional instability", at a time when the African Union (AU) was intensifying its efforts to ensure Africa became a continent of peace.

"In many respects the deeply entrenched Somali crisis demonstrates what can happen to many of our countries if they are not governed and managed in a manner that addresses the interests of all citizens, bearing in mind the national specifics of each country," he said.

- SAPA