Libya to lend support to Somalia

ALARAB ONLINE | Display Page Libya hosts African leaders gathering Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi chaired a meeting of African presidents and other top officials on Thursday to prepare for an African Union summit, officials said. "The next AU summit is very important. The leaders met today to coordinate and narrow their positions and standpoints so that they go to the summit united and speaking in one voice," Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam told reporters. Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was among the 11 heads of state and eight government representatives attending the meeting of the Sahel and Sahara African grouping, most of whose members are instrumental players in the AU which holds its next summit in Ethiopia in July. "The meeting in Sirte focused on ways to strengthen the AU Commission further and the possibility of setting up an AU government supervising defence, foreign affairs, foreign trade and telecommunications ministries," Shalgam added. Libya has been pushing for the AU to become a federation on the United States model. Asked whether the meeting took any decision about sending troops to Somalia, Shalgam said: "No decision has been taken. Libya may not send troops there but it will lend support." Nigeria said on Wednesday it would contribute up to 1,000 soldiers. Uganda and Malawi have also offered troops, while South Africa and Mozambique said they may take part. Somali government troops backed by the Ethiopian military defeated Islamist forces in the Horn of Africa country after a two-week war that begin in late December. Ethiopian troops have begun leaving the country but attacks have continued in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, and the government lacks a national powerbase and truly popular support. "There is a determination and a good intention among African states to send troops to Somalia," Somali Foreign Minister Ismail Hurre Buba said. He said Yusuf would have further talks with Leader Gaddafi about support from Libya before returning home.