Peter Leftie
22 June 2009
Nairobi — Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Monday hinted at a military solution to the crisis in war-torn Somalia.
At a joint press conference with Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmake, Mr Odinga called on the international community to consider sending "military assistance" to the war-torn nation to arrest the armed conflict.
"When I was in Geneva last week, I asked various agencies to help Somalia deal with the problem, and to also help Kenya deal with the influx of refugees.
"There is also need to provide military assistance to deal with the situation in Somalia," the Prime Minister said at his Treasury office.
We're consulting
However, he was noncommittal on whether Kenya would send troops to Somalia.
"I'm not saying that we will send forces to Somalia, we are consulting and will make an announcement soon," Mr Odinga, who was with assistant minister Alfred Khangati and some members of the Somalia cabinet, added.
The PM spoke in the wake of reports that the al-Qaeda terrorist group had joined forces with extremists in Somalia to oust the transitional government.
But, Mr Odinga would not be drawn into the government's response to warnings by Al-Shabaab insurgents operating in Somalia that they would attack Kenya.
"Al-Shabaab is not telling us how to cope with the influx of refugees at Dadaab camp. I'm therefore not responding officially to Al-Shabaab," he said.
He cited Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) and African Union resolutions that restricted nations from interfering in each others internal affairs as the reason not to send troops to Somalia.
Mr Odinga appealed to the Igad, the AU, the United Nations and the US to move in and save the Somalia Transitional Government from being overrun by the insurgents.
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