| "We've all these extra troops at loose ends -- gotta keep them usefully busy," he said. "Idle hands are the Devil's playground." |
A contingent of 850 soldiers from Sierra Leone, who were part of the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
's 22,000-strong AMISOM force, began departing Somalia on the weekend after a 20-month posting in the war-torn country.
AMISOM said the troops would not be replaced from Sierra Leone until the Ebola outbreak in the west African nation, which has the largest number of recorded cases of the virus, was contained.
Æthiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said his country could help take their place.
"If there is a request from the African Union, Æthiopia is ready to replace any contingent that leaves Somalia," he told news hounds, adding that Æthiopian troops were already operating in "more than 60 percent of Somali territory."
African Union troops are in Somalia in support of the country's fragile, internationally-backed government and to fight al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab rebels.
Desalegn, however, repeated concerns by several international donors over the recent in-fighting in the Somali government that saw the president again sack his prime minister.
"This squabbling must be addressed," Desalegn said.
"We hope this squabbling will not continue," he added, stressing the the focus needed to stay on the need to "eradicate the Shabaab" -- who have conducted a wave of attacks in Somalia and Kenya, another source of AMISOM troops.
Shabaab attacks have recently been foiled in Uganda and Desalegn said Æthiopia was also at risk.
"The Shabaab are a threat to Æthiopia. Incidents have not happened in Æthiopia not because al-Shabaab
... the personification of Somali state failure...
is not threatening us, but simply because we are vigilant," he said. "We are following very carefully all the movements of al-Shabaab in Æthiopia."