Kampala blasts thrust Somalia top of AU summit agenda

By Barry Malone

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda had been ready to host the African Union summit for months before three bombs sent ball-bearings flying through two bars in its capital, killing 73 people watching the World Cup final.

Now, less than two weeks later, more than 30 African heads of state will gather for their bi-annual meeting and some will sleep just minutes from where Somalia's al Shabaab rebels launched their first attacks on foreign soil.

The festering Somali conflict has featured on African Union summit agendas for years, but analysts say the difference this time is that the assembled leaders feel pressure to act -- now the violence has exploded beyond Somalia's borders.

"It's all Somalia," a senior AU diplomat told Reuters. "Uganda has been attacked, Burundi is threatened, Ethiopia is threatened, the whole region is threatened. And the world's eyes are on Somalia now."

Somalia's near powerless Western-backed government is hemmed into a few streets of its capital Mogadishu by al Shabaab and another Islamist militia. The insurgent groups control much of southern and central Somalia, bordering Kenya and Ethiopia.

The Somali government's reliance on 6,300 African Union peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi to survive was the reason Kampala was targeted by suspected suicide bombers.

East African regional bloc IGAD last month pledged to send another 2,000 troops "immediately" to bolster the AU mission. It is unclear which country will contribute the soldiers.

There have also been calls in the region for the force mandate to be widened so they can go on the offensive against the insurgents, rather than just responding when attacked...Full story