Somalia spoilers face sanctions

AN African Union (AU) meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Wednesday resolved to set up a mechanism to identify the insurgents in Somalia’s recent violence and seek sanctions against them. “We decided to set up a mechanism to clearly identify the spoilers. We are going to the use the UN and AU systems to seek sanctions against them,” defence minister Crispus Kiyonga told Sunday Vision. Sanctions, he said, could include travel bans, international arrest warrants and bringing them before the International Criminal Court. The meeting was attended by defence ministers of countries that contribute troops to the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the Somali Minister of Defence and the Peace and Security Commission of the AU. The meeting also decided to boost AMISOM to over 5,000 troops, with one additional battalion pledged by Sierra Leone and another one by Burundi. Uganda is the biggest contributor to AMISOM, with three battalions stationed at strategic positions in Mogadishu, such as the port, the airport and the presidential palace. ..more..http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=123&newsId=681543