Somalia conference set to start as world leaders plan higher military presence
LONDON—More boots on the ground, proposed attacks from the air, and a warning from Britain’s prime minister that the overwhelming threat to Somalia comes from the Al Qaeda-linked insurgency group Al Shabab.
A decidedly military agenda was set on the eve of Thursday’s international conference on Somalia, where world leaders have vowed to address the country’s problems — from poverty to piracy.
But it is conquering the Shabab, the Somalia-based militant group that has been fighting the country’s Transitional Federal Government and outside forces, that appears to be the conference’s main focus.
“There is a terrorist threat that is current today, and if we are not careful, could get worse,” British Prime Minister David Cameron told BBC’s Somali service Wednesday.
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1135407--military-drumbeats-grow-louder-on-eve-of-somalia-conference?bn=1