Wetang'ula urges strong Somalia action Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang'ula has urged the African Union to take strong action against Somalia in the wake of the Kampala bombings July 23, 2010. Photo/FILE The African Union should take strong action against Somalia following the bombings in Kampala, Uganda, Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang'ula has said.

Speaking during the opening of the Executive Council of the African Union Friday in Kampala, Mr Wetang'ula called for strengthening the AU military operation in Somalia, AMISOM, from “peacekeeping to peace-making.”

Specifically, he called for the AU to strengthen the East African Standby Brigade, or EASBRIC, so that it might better deal with the Somalia security threat.

He further expressed condolences to the people and government of Uganda, where two separate bombs killed nearly 100 people as they watched the World Cup finals.

The attack, Mr Wetang'ula said, was worrisome because it represented a departure from attacks directed toward western interests and represented a “new and worrying” threat of violence by Africans on Africans.
Although most of the victims in the Dar es Salaam and Nairobi bombings were African, he pointed out that they had, unfortunately, suffered from anger primarily directed at the Americans.

Mr Wetang'ula also met with his South African counterpart Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, to call for South Africa to ramp up a response to the regional security threat that Somali pirates pose to trade in the Gulf of Aden.

She urged the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) to determine a proper Somalia policy.

Regarding piracy, South Africa promised to engage in intelligence sharing.

Mr Wetang'ula also held bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart and China deputy Foreign Affairs minister.

The minister urged the two countries to take advantage of the East African Community Common Market protocol to venture into the region.