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UPDF Already in War-Torn Somalia, Says Mbabazi

The Monitor (Kampala)
NEWS
November 15, 2006
Posted to the web November 15, 2006

By Angelo Izama

Ugandan soldiers have already deployed in the troubled nation of Somalia Inside
Politics can for the first time confirm authoritatively. Theis was revealed by
the Minister for Security Amama Mbabazi in an exclusive interview on Thursday
November 9.
This is the first time that a senior government officer has admitted to the
presence of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) in Somalia, which had long
been a subject of speculation.
"We are doing a job for IGAD- we face the same challenges. When IGAD took a
decision to act we were given the job of protecting the Transitional Government
and ensuring the training of their security forces. Commonsense commanded that
we cooperate," he says.
IGAD stands for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a seven country
regional organisation to which Uganda and Somalia belong. Its other members are
Kenya, Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
" We are a member of IGAD and face the same challenges. Our job is not to take
sides unless our troops are engaged. In that case they are entitled to defend
themselves," the Minister added. Observers are warning of a regional war in
Somalia where a weak Transitional Government holed up in the south central town
of Baidoa is battling against the Union of Islamic Courts, a militia that
controls most of the country.
The Associated Press recently reported that a United Nations report had warned
of a wider conflict because several thousand Ethiopian and Eritrean troops were
in Somalia on opposite sides. The Eritreans support the UIC, which has declared
a holy war against Ethiopian forces.
Last week, the State Minister for Defence Ruth Nakabirwa reportedly said the
government would first seek Parliamentary approval before deploying up to a
battalion in Somalia. She also dismissed fears that a hostile UIC would not
accept Ugandan troops, adding that of all the members of IGAD, only Sudan and
Uganda would be acceptable to a majority of the people there.


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