Johannesburg — SA COULD play a positive role in quelling the rising terrorist insurgency in Somalia, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson said yesterday.

SA is one of the leading regional contributors to peace-keeping missions in Africa since it was readmitted into the international fold more than a decade ago.

In fact, it had been instrumental in stabilising countries such as Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea and Sudan, he said.

However, SA risked being in the firing line of al-Shabaab - the Somali terrorist group that claimed responsibility for bombing bars in Kampala where patrons were watching the Soccer World Cup final on television on July 11 - should it decide to send troops to Somalia as the group threatened to attack any country that sent soldiers there.

The bombings claimed the lives of 74 civilians, and left another 85 people wounded.

Department of International Relations and Co-operation spokesman Mahlatse Mminele said yesterday SA had not made any commitments to send soldiers to reinforce the African Union (AU) mission in Somalia.

Mr Carson made his call after attending the AU heads of state summit in Kampala where east African regional security was high on the agenda.

"The bombings were a wake up call for the international community", Mr Carson said yesterday in a teleconference from Kampala.

"The situation in Somalia is increasingly fragile and deserves attention by the international community," he said.

Eric Holder Jr, the US attorney-general, in a speech to the assembled African heads of state, said the US was ready to deploy "diplomacy and military tactics" to east Africa.

"Your security and prosperity, the health of your people and the strength of your civil society, will have a direct and profound impact on the world's communities and on the advancement of human rights and human progress everywhere," Mr Holder said.

President Jacob Zuma, who attended the summit, also condemned the bombings.

"Terrorism is an evil that the international community must work together for its eradication," Mr Zuma said.

The AU has agreed in principle to send 2000 more soldiers to Somalia. This move will bring the strength of the AU's peace-keeping mission there to 8000.

Djibouti and Guinea have already indicated that their armies were ready to take part in stabilising Somalia, which has recently also experienced a surge in maritime piracy.