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| Africa Horn |
| Botswana will not send troops to Somalia |
| 2010-08-04 |
| [The Nation (Nairobi)] Botswana has said that it will not send troops to Somalia though it can provide logistics to the African Union (AU) force in the war-torn country. Foreign Affairs Minister Mr Phandu Skelemani told the press in Gaborone that the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) already has its hands full with anti-poaching activities and control of the contagious Foot and Mouth Disease and cannot afford to send troops outside the country. "We have to protect our wildlife rather than send troops to Somalia," Mr Skelemani said after arriving from the AU Summit in Kampala which called on African countries to send more troops to Somalia. He regretted that Botswana cannot send troops because of the poaching problem. "Poachers are killing our wildlife which is our revenue (earner), therefore members of the Botswana Defence Force have been deployed in anti-poaching units as well as fighting Foot and Mouth Disease with other national duties they are now engaged in," he explained. |
| Posted by:Fred |