---

---

United States Department of State (Washington, DC)

Somalia: Background Briefing on U.S. Assistance to the Transitional Federal Government

27 June 2009

---

(Page 2 of 4)

QUESTION:  Is this --

QUESTION:  I’m sorry; can I just finish up with this?  Are they American weapons, or are you essentially providing the funds and then they’re purchased elsewhere?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  We’re essentially doing two things:  We have provided funds for the purchase of weapons; and we have also asked the two units that are there, particularly the Ugandans, to provide weapons to the TFG, and we have backfilled the Ugandans for what they have provided to the TFG government.

QUESTION:  And then, last one for me on this, if I may.  You’ve talked about how Somalia can be seen as a sort of --

QUESTION:  (Inaudible)?

QUESTION:  Yeah – as, you know, as a proxy conflict or a proxy war between the Eritreans and the Ethiopians.  Can you shed any light on your efforts to persuade the Eritreans to cease their support for the insurgents?  And I know you’ve said publicly that you have interest in perhaps going to Eritrea.  Is there any – have they displayed any interest in seeing you there or anywhere else to talk about this?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:   I have indeed sought to engage the Eritreans so that we could talk about the issue of Somalia.  I have said to them that it would be extremely useful for us to try to improve our relationship and bring it back to normal, but the basis on which that would be possible is for them to act in a responsible manner in the Horn of Africa, and to cease and desist their support for al-Shabaab.  I have reached out to the Eritreans, and their responses have been slow in coming back.

QUESTION:  Can I clarify something about the arms?  You said you’re providing the funds for purchase of weapons.  That’s going directly to the TFG?  Is that what you’re saying when you say you’re backfilling the Ugandans?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  That’s right.

QUESTION:  Is that with money or is that with American arms?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  What we have sought to do is to do – as I said, to provide the TFG with resources to buy munitions and arms.  And we have – and to pay for some of their training needs.  And we have gone to the Ugandans when the TFG has run short of weapons and ammunition and have told the Ugandans to provide what the TFG needs.  When the Ugandans provide those weapons, they give us a bill and an accounting for what they have turned over, and we then give them the money to replace the stores and the arms that they have –that they’ve (inaudible).

QUESTION:  Can you quantify that at all?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  No, I do not want to quantify at this point.

QUESTION:  Can you give us a sense of the magnitude of it, the scope of this?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:   We’ve shipped probably in the neighborhood of 40 tons worth of arms and munitions into Somalia in support of the TFG.

QUESTION:  And is it ongoing?  I mean, is this – this is going to continue, I mean, right?  But so far --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  Yes.  Yes.

QUESTION:  And that’s since when?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  This has been within the last two months.

QUESTION:  I have a couple.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  And let me just say, I will say within the last six weeks – certainly within – to be more precise, because the al-Shabaab started a major assault on the TFG around the 7th of May, and our assistance has substantially increased as a result of the (inaudible.)

QUESTION:  And it was a direct result of that that prompted your decision to --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  We felt that it was important to respond to the TFG request and the calls for support that were coming from the region and the concerns that the region had.

QUESTION:  Can I just – on the arms, just as a ballpark figure, are we talking about a couple of million dollars or are we talking about under a million dollars?  Are we talking about upwards of –

QUESTION:  Are we talking about tens of millions of dollars?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  No, we’re talking in the terms of the low millions.  We’re not talking –

QUESTION:  Single digits?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  We’re going to get – start parsing this.  We’re not talking about $100 million, we’re not talking about $75 million, we’re not talking about $50 million, and we’re not talking about $25 million.  (Laughter.)

QUESTION:  No, I just don’t understand what the reluctance is if you’re talking about – you know, if you’re acknowledging sending in arms, you know, whether it’s –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:   I mean, at this point, it’s certainly under $10 million.

QUESTION:  Thank you.

QUESTION:  A couple of things.  I mean, the fact that you –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  It’s under $10 million.

QUESTION:  The fact that you sent it in the last few weeks seems like you’re worried that al-Shabaab was on the verge of taking over the government.  And I mean, can you relate that to your fears that – about al Qaida becoming a safe haven in the region?

Also, can you talk about the training piece, what the U.S. is doing in terms of training?

And then thirdly, I understand the head of the Puntland Government is here.  What are your discussions with them?  Do you see them as having any role whatsoever?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  Go backwards.  Third question:  I believe that the president of Puntland is here.  He is here at the request of Congressman Payne to participate in a set of congressional meetings – I don’t know if they would be called hearings – that occurred, I think, several days ago.

I have not met with the president of Puntland, and we have not been involved in any of his activities since his arrival.

QUESTION:  So it doesn’t sound like you think – I mean, the Bush Administration used to talk to them quite often, so it doesn’t seem like you think they’re real players.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  Well, that’s – I didn’t say that.

QUESTION:  Well --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  I just said that we had not spoken to them.  They have come here at the request of Congressman Payne.  And it may be that while they’re here we may see them, but we have not – we have not seen them.  Puntland has exhibited a degree of stability that is to be encouraged and supported.  And so it is not a – that we have a low opinion of them, but we haven’t seen them.

The second question --

QUESTION:  Training.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL:  Training.  We have set aside money to help train the TFG.  The Ugandans have done some training.  The Burundians have done some training of TFG elements.  And the Kenyans are also prepared to provide training.  And we have and will assist in the payment for that training when it can be done in places that are close by or when they can be done inside of the country.

Read comments. Write your own.

More News on allAfrica.com

Mourids Harvest More Presidential Farms The Mourid's disciples acting under the directives ...	Mafindi... the Fulani Man And His Cattle Alhaji Issa Tafida Mafindi is a politician and ...
NGO Holds Free Counselling, HIV/Aids Tests for Students An Abakaliki based non-governmental ...	'Gambia On the Fast Lane' Launched In what was described by many especially stakeholders in ...
Gender Violence Hinders Equality - Mkhize Correctional Services Deputy Minister Hlengiwe ...	The Link Between Undernutrition And Climate Change Seven children die of hunger every ...

See all comments (6).

---