Clinton recalls US embassy attacks in Africa
Matthew LeeU.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday honored the victims of the deadly 1998 al-Qaida-linked attacks on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
A day before the 11th anniversary of the Aug. 7 bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam that killed more than 200 people, Clinton paid a somber visit to a memorial at the site of the former embassy in the Kenyan capital.
The site, she said, is 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."
Clinton placed a wreath at the site, signed a guestbook and met with survivors of the Nairobi bombing. She said it was a day "to renew our resolve to do all that we can to ensure that these attacks don't take more innocent lives in the future."
The U.S. says some of those behind the attacks are sheltering in neighboring Somalia with an extremist Islamist militia known as al-Shabab that is battling the lawless country's weak interim government.
Later Thursday, Clinton is to meet at the new U.S. Embassy in Nairobi with embattled Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed to pledge continuing American backing for his government and the undermanned and underfunded African peacekeeping force supporting it.
At a town hall meeting at the University of Nairobi, Clinton said the U.S. wants to help create stability in Somalia and supports the African peacekeeping effort.
"They are trying to create areas that are conflict-free zones," she said. "We have made clear we want to be supportive. We want to support the African intervention into Somalia."
Ahmed said this week that his meeting with Clinton presents a "golden chance" for his war-torn country.
Clintons said Thursday, "We want to support (Ahmed) as he tries to assert power over parts of Somalia that have been riven with conflict since 1992."
U.S. officials said Clinton is not expected to announce specifics of new assistance to the government. But they said the Obama administration plans to go ahead with additional weapons supplies through African nations to double an initial provision of 40 tons of arms.
The U.S. also has begun a low-profile mission to help train Somali security forces in nearby Djibouti, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities surrounding U.S. involvement in the program.
U.S. commanders still have sour memories of the 1992-94 American military intervention that began as a humanitarian mission to deliver aid supplies to Somalia.
It ended in a humiliating withdrawal months after the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" incident in which two U.S. helicopters were downed and 18 servicemen were killed.
Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 and Ahmed's administration holds only a few blocks in Mogadishu, with support from the peacekeepers.
The top U.N. envoy for Somalia said last month that the country is at a "turning point" and in desperate need of international support, especially military equipment, training and money.
Earlier Thursday, Clinton suggested the United States would become a member of the International Criminal Court, the first permanent institution authorized to try individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so.
The U.S. formally rejected U.S. participation in May 2002. A main concern was that American servicemen hunting down terrorists abroad might not be safe from politically motivated prosecutions.
Clinton said it is "a great regret but it is a fact that we are not yet a signatory. But we have supported the court and continue to do so."