US to double arms, ammunition aid to Somalia: official

[tocqueville]

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States plans to double the amount of arms and ammunition it is providing Somalia's transitional government to help it fend off an Al-Qaeda inspired insurgency, a US State Department official said Thursday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the plan was to double supplies of arms and ammunition 40 to 80 tonnes. "That's the idea," the official said.

The official also said Somalis were receiving military training in Djibouti, where the US military has a base covering the Horn of Africa.

Earlier in Nairobi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the president of Somalia's embattled transitional federal government, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, and pledged "very strong support."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090806/wl_africa_afp/usafricadiplomacysomaliaarms_20090806183324

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Al-Shebab currently holds two French military advisors hostage. Expect full French backup to the US on that story.

[maxsolomon]

1. it will just wind up in the hands of the islamists

what to do about somalia, i have no idea. maybe let all their women immigrate to the US?