Clinton threatens Eritrea action

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned that the US will "take action" against Eritrea if it does not stop supporting militants in Somalia.

She said after talks with Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, that Eritrea's actions were "unacceptable".

She also said the US would expand support for Somalia's unity government.

Eritrea denies supporting Somalia's al-Shabab militants, who are trying to overthrow Somalia's government.

Al-Shabab is growing in strength and 250,000 Somalis have fled their homes in fighting between militants and government forces over the past three months.

Wreath-laying

Mrs Clinton was holding the talks with the UN-backed Somali leader, a moderate Islamist, on the second day of her African tour.
Wreath-laying

Mrs Clinton was holding the talks with the UN-backed Somali leader, a moderate Islamist, on the second day of her African tour.
At a joint news conference with him after the meeting, she said: "It is long past time for Eritrea to cease and desist its support of al-Shabab and to start being a productive rather than a destabilising neighbour.

"We are making it very clear that their actions are unacceptable. We intend to take action if they do not cease." She added: "There is also no doubt that al-Shabab wants to obtain control of Somalia to use it as a base from which to influence and even infiltrate surrounding countries and launch attacks against countries far and near."

Mrs Clinton said if al-Shabab obtained a haven in Somalia "it would be a threat to the United States". The US has ruled out sending its forces to fight insurgents in Somalia.

Eritrean officials have repeatedly denied supporting al-Shabab, calling the allegations a "fabrication" of US intelligence.

Several Somali Islamist groups operated from Eritrea after being ousted from the capital, Mogadishu, when Ethiopian troops entered Somalia in 2006. Before the talks on Thursday, Mrs Clinton honoured the victims of the August 1998 attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in a wreath-laying ceremony in Nairobi.

More than 220 people were killed and 5,000 injured in the first major attack by al-Qaeda on US targets.

AP news agency quoted her as saying that the embassy site was a reminder of "the continuing threat of terrorism, which respects no boundaries, no race, ethnicity or religion, but is aimed at disrupting and denying the opportunity of people to make their own decisions and to lead their own lives". There are reports that al-Shabab - the Somali Islamist group which favours strict Islamic law and is accused of links to al-Qaeda - is gaining support from militants around the world.

Earlier this week, police in Australia arrested several men, charging them with planning suicide attacks on a base in Sydney and saying they were linked to al-Shabab.

The BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi says President Ahmed needs all the support he can get. Pro-government forces are only in control of a small section of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

Our correspondent points out it is far too dangerous for the American secretary of state to venture into Somalia, as the fighting continuesKenya violence

Somalia's foreign minister told the BBC's Network Africa programme that Washington's support for his government was a "golden opportunity".

"It is absolutely clear that the people of Somalia are tired... sick and tired of war, sick and tired of chaos," he said. The US admits it has supplied pro-government forces in Somalia with over 40 tonnes of weapons and ammunition this year, and another delivery of weapons is predicted, says our correspondent.

But there are growing fears that the Horn of Africa country - which has been without an effective central government since 1991 - risks becoming a haven for terrorists.

On Wednesday, Mrs Clinton held talks in Nairobi with Kenya's president and prime minister.

America's top diplomat described as "disappointing" Kenya's failure to investigate a bout of violence that left at least 1,300 people dead after the disputed December 2007 presidential election.

Addressing African leaders at Wednesday's economic summit, Mrs Clinton said the continent had "enormous potential for progress".

But she stressed that harnessing that potential would require democracy and good governance.

During her 11-day trip Mrs Clinton will also visit South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cape Verde.

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Clinton Begins Africa Trip With Stop in Kenya

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in the Kenyan capital Nairobi Tuesday, the first stop on a seven-nation visit to Africa. She will be taking part in a forum that has been a centerpiece of U.S. trade, aid and investment policy in Sub-Saharan Africa for the past eight years.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton’s first visit to Africa as secretary of state will officially begin on Wednesday, when she will speak at the ministerial opening ceremony of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act forum.

Also known as AGOA, the act was signed into law in 2000 by Secretary Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, to expand benefits under an existing Generalized System of Preferences program. AGOA provides 41 eligible countries in Sub-Saharan Africa duty and quota free access to U.S. markets for certain African-made goods, especially textiles and apparels. Eligibility is based on a country’s commitment to good governance and free trade and it can be revoked.

Kenyan economist James Shikwati says the topic that will likely dominate Ms. Clinton’s talks with African ministers of commerce, trade and finance will be on how eligible countries can fully exploit the benefits of AGOA.

Shikwati says although AGOA is credited with helping Sub-Saharan Africa increase the volume of trade with the United States by more than 50 percent since 1999, non-oil exports under AGOA are still negligible compared to developing countries in Asia.

“If you look at the trade volumes, especially for last year, 80 percent is actually crude oil,” Shikwati said. “Twenty percent is the only window, where 7,000 plus products are struggling to make the American markets. So, when you look at that kind of arrangement, it clearly points [out] that America is benefiting more than the African people.”

Washington-based public policy organization, The Brookings Institution, estimates that nearly 96 percent, or $56.3 billion worth of trade under AGOA in 2008, consisted of energy-related products. In the area of apparel exports, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for little more than one percent of the total market in 2008, nearly three times less than what Bangladesh exported to the United States in the same year.

Brookings says several factors have played a role in limiting AGOA’s potential. The high cost of doing business has kept the African continent uncompetitive; AGOA has not done enough to encourage eligible countries to diversify their economies to attract American capital; and cumbersome rules and regulations in the United States prevent African agricultural products from reaching U.S. markets.

Shikwati says the challenge for the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa now is to transform AGOA from a largely petroleum-importing initiative to one that Africa and its people can fully exploit. To do that, he says African nations participating in AGOA must identify what it is they want from America.

“We have a trade pact, where America understands what it wants and is very clear about what it wants. But African countries are yet to even figure out what they want,” Shikwati said. “If I use Kenya as an example, you will get government officials, business people thinking in terms of ‘What can America do for us?’ when in essence, we should be exploiting some of the ideas our interaction with American are churning out. When a country understands what it wants, it develops its interests and marshals its people to exploit available opportunities.”

International anti-poverty agency, ActionAid, is also urging African leaders and the United States to make sure that any increase in trade and jobs under AGOA is accompanied by efforts to improve working conditions for laborers and respect for human rights.

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