KENYA: United States Ambassador to Kenya condemns ongoing violence in Mogadishu and reaffirms commitment to help transition government in Somalia

Record ID: 362069

  • Title: KENYA: United States Ambassador to Kenya condemns ongoing violence in Mogadishu and reaffirms commitment to help transition government in Somalia
  • Date: 22nd March 2007
  • Summary: (BN13) NAIROBI, KENYA (MARCH 21, 2007)(REUTERS) WIDE SHOT OF UNITED STATES EMBASSY IN NAIROBI UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR STANDING IN FRONT OF THE JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE)(English) UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO KENYA, MICHAEL RANNEBERGER, SAYING: "We are trying to assist the transitional government to establish security on the ground and that reflect to both the day-to-day secur
  • Embargoed: 6th April 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA40Q78ARKRM516GGZ61FSKY7Q
  • Story Text: The U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, urged dialogue to end the ongoing violence in Somalia and said the U.S. remains committed in helping the transition government.
    "We are trying to assist the transitional government to establish security on the ground and that reflect to both the day-to-day security as well as obviously ensuring that terrorists cannot exploit, cannot use Somalia as safe heaven. We are helping the transitional government at the same time, part of that is obviously is to establish its authority on the ground as the legitimate government of Somalia," said U.S. ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger who is also responsible for Somalia.
    On Wednesday, insurgents dragged soldiers' bodies through the streets of Mogadishu before burning them.
    The corpses of five soldiers -- either from the Somali government army or their Ethiopian allies -- were desecrated during some of the worst clashes in the lawless capital since the interim government took over in December.
    The grisly scenes recalled the aftermath of the 1993 shooting-down of a Black Hawk helicopter by Somali militiamen during a failed U.S. operation to hunt down warlords.
    Washington condemned the soldiers' mutilation and the ongoing war in the capital Mogadishu.
    Images of dead American troops being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu were the beginning of the end for a U.S.-U.N. peacekeeping force which quit Somalia in 1995.
    The interim government took over Mogadishu in late December during a brief war in which it and Ethiopia routed a militant Islamist group that ruled most of south Somalia since mid-2006.
    Many believe the defeated Islamists, along with disgruntled clan and warlord militiamen, are behind regular hit-and-run attacks. In most cases, the attacks prompt retaliatory fire and civilians are often the victims of the crossfire.
    African Union peacekeepers from Uganda are trying to help the government gain control of the anarchic Horn of Africa nation. Like the Ethiopians, they are viewed as foreign invaders by many Somalis and are therefore also targeted.
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