Paris, France, January 23, 2010 – French Foreign minister Bernard Kouchner on Tuesday urged the international community to support the president of the Somali transitional federal government, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, saying the fight against terrorism strongly depends on such a support.
"The deployment of international troops off the Somali coast is admittedly an important measure in the fight against terrorism but we can win the battle only on land meaning within Somalia," he said in his New Year message to journalists.
"President Sharif Ahmed was democratically elected in Djibouti and we have to support him. It is in our interest to do so," he said.
Mr Kouchner said France had trained over 500 officers of the Somali army.
Source: Afrique en ligne, Wednesday, January 20, 2010


 

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