Uganda leader bids farewell to troops for Somalia
Source: Reuters
By Tim Cocks JINJA, Uganda, Mar 1 (Reuters) - Amid pomp and military music, President Yoweri Museveni waved off two battalions of Ugandan peacekeepers on Thursday as they prepared to deploy on an African Union mission to Somalia. Officials said the 1,635 troops would land in the lawless capital, Mogadishu, as soon as some expected equipment arrived from overseas -- probably next week. They include an infantry battalion, a tank battalion and various support staff, Museveni said in a speech. "This is a fully capable force to undertake any task within (its) mandate," Museveni shouted out to silent rows of soldiers in bright green AU berets at a barracks in Jinja, east of Kampala, where they underwent peacekeeping training. As a brass band's trumpet melodies and drum beats picked up tempo, white-armoured AU personal carriers laden with waving soldiers drove through the main square. Other peacekeepers marched alongside them across a yard flanked by red-roofed British colonial buildings. Witnesses in the Somali government stronghold of Baidoa said a group of 35 Ugandan officers had already arrived there on Thursday, but Uganda's army denied this. Museveni warned the peacekeepers in his speech that their mandate was not to engage in combat with Islamist or any other fighters hostile to Somalia's transitional government. "We are not going to disarm Somali militias. That's not our job," he said. "Once we empower the Somalis, if they think the guns should be removed, they will be the ones to do it." Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi and Burundi are also expected to send troops to bring the force to about half its hoped-for strength of nine battalions, or 8,000 soldiers. But Uganda's military says it can hold its own in the chaotic Horn of Africa country until reinforcements arrive.
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
