Ugandan offer for Somalia aid unmet

KAMPALA, Uganda

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni last month pledged to send as many as 20,000 troops to help rid Somalia of an al Qaeda-linked terrorist group and augment the 6,000 African peacekeepers already stationed there, if a richer nation would provide funding for logistics and equipment.
The offer won him plaudits in the international community, not least of all from the Obama administration, which had been struggling to find partners to help stabilize the war-ravaged hotbed of Somalia and combat al-Shabab, the Islamist militant group responsible for killing more than 70 people in two suicide bombings in Kampala in July.
But in the time since, neither the U.S. nor any of its allies has agreed to foot the bill, allowing al-Shabab to continue to wreak terror in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, and strengthen its grip in the south and central parts of the country while plotting fresh attacks abroad.   Read More