Uganda President Museveni

Kampala, Uganda, June 08, 2007 – Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said dialogue between warring parties in volatile Somalia is crucial in solving the lawlessness in the country.

President Museveni, who was giving the state of nation address in parliament on Thursday said once the warring parties dialogue most of the problems Somalia is facing will be solved.

He warned that the delay of the dialogue would have consequences on the peace process in the country.

"The only potential problem I can see is the delay of the dialogue among the Somali people. Dialogue is very crucial in solving the situation in Somalia," the president said.

He said the situation in Somalia is not as complicated as critics describe it.

"The situation in Somalia is not as bad as critics portray it. With our disciplined forces there and the right type of dialogue in place, Somalia will be peaceful," the president said.

Uganda is so far the only country that has sent some 1,500 peacekeepers in Somalia. An 8,000-strong AU force is needed to stabilize the war-ravaged country but only half of that number has been promised.

The other countries, Malawi, Ghana, Burundi and Nigeria pledged to send troops but they have not given a timetable of their deployment.

President Museveni blamed the attack which left four Ugandan troops dead and others injured last month on the relaxation of the commanders saying they should not have allowed the soldiers to patrol a new area using vehicles.

"How could they allow troops to patrol a new area in vehicles? This was a mistake. They should have walked on foot. I have discussed these lapses with the army leaders and hope they will never happen again," he said.

He defended government's decision to send troops to the volatile country saying it was in reciprocity of what other African countries did to help Uganda fight dictatorship in the 1970's.

" Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia and Lybia extended solidarity to us. That is how we came out of the shadow of death of (military junta) Idi Amin. How can we then fail to extend solidarity to others," Museveni said.

There were concerns after the killing of Ugandan troops in Somalia, that government should withdraw the troops following the increasing kills and the failure of other African countries to deploy troops in the lawless country.

Somalia, which has lacked an effective central authority since the 1991 ouster of military strongman Mohamed Siad Barre, has faced increasing violence since the transitional government backed by Ethiopian troops ousted the Union of Islamic Courts, a militia group, late last year.

Source: Xinhua