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Uganda Willing to Provide 20,000 Troops for Somalia

   VOA News 05 October 2010
   Uganda   President  Yoweri  Museveni,  right,  greets  European  Union
   Military  Committee  Army Officers after a security meeting where they
   committed to support pacification of Somalia, at State House, Entebbe,
   Uganda, 04 Oct. 2010

Photo: AP

   Uganda   President  Yoweri  Museveni,  right,  greets  European  Union
   Military  Committee  Army Officers after a security meeting where they
   committed to support pacification of Somalia, at State House, Entebbe,
   Uganda, 04 Oct. 2010

   Ugandan  President  Yoweri  Museveni  says his country can provide the
   20,000-troop  force the African Union says is needed to defeat Islamic
   militants in Somalia.
   In  a  statement released by his office late Monday, Mr. Museveni said
   Uganda  can provide the force if it can get the required logistics and
   equipment.  He  said  a  few  committed  African nations with military
   capacity should take on the job of pacifying Somalia.
   Mr.  Museveni  made  the  comments  earlier  in  the day to a group of
   visiting generals from European Union states.
   Ugandan  troops  make up most of the AU peacekeeping force of 7,200 in
   Somalia.  The  force  is helping Somalia's government battle insurgent
   groups  al-Shabab  and  Hizbul Islam, which are trying to turn Somalia
   into a strict Islamic state.
   The  Ugandan  leader  also  said the way to fight Somali pirates is to
   build a strong government in Somalia.
   The  current  government  has  been wracked by infighting and controls
   only  a  few  parts  of  the capital, Mogadishu. Somalia has not had a
   stable central government in nearly two decades.

   Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.

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