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Terrorism In Spotlight At African Summit
KAMPALA (Reuters) - African leaders will try to rescue Somalia's faltering peace process and discuss counter-terrorism cooperation in a region twice hit by al Qaeda when they gather in Uganda for a regional summit.
The seven countries from east and northeast Africa are also expected to encourage progress at Sudanese peace talks, visited this week by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell who said the government and rebels had promised a peace deal this year.
But there were no plans on the agenda on Friday to tackle a renewed border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea that has sharpened tensions in the Horn of Africa.
The summit of the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in the capital Kampala brings together leaders of Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritrea, a region grappling with drought, famine and civil war.
Diplomats said Somali peace talks held under the auspices of IGAD in Kenya were likely to be high on the agenda, following the withdrawal of key faction leaders in recent weeks and Djibouti's decision to quit a committee steering the talks.
"The Somali peace process is facing serious problems," said a document seen by Reuters outlining the meeting's agenda.
The document recommended that the committee managing the talks, which had comprised Somalia's neighbours Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, should be expanded to include Sudan, Eritrea and Uganda.
"There were tensions caused by Kenya's handling of the affair so to placate all parties we have committed the whole IGAD group to the talks," a diplomat told Reuters.
DIFFICULTIES
Somalia collapsed into chaos after the overthrow of military ruler Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991. The year-long IGAD talks in Kenya represent the 14th attempt to restore peace.
"The Somali peace process is on track, but like all peace making processes you have difficulties," Ugandan Foreign Minister James Wapakhabulo said on Thursday at an IGAD briefing.
Ugandan officials said they expected all IGAD heads of state except Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki to attend the two-day summit, which is also expected to discuss efforts to combat militants in the region.
Washington views the region as a potential haven for al Qaeda agents, blamed for 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and an attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya in November last year.
But the last IGAD summit in January, 2002 in
Khartoum failed to agree specific measures to combat militants.
Diplomats said mounting tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, who fought a
1998-2000 border war, were not on the official agenda. Ethiopia has objected
to a new border drawn up by an independent commission set up under their
2000 peace deal, drawing criticism from Eritrea.
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