The Kenyan Government’s most powerful security organ met on Wednesday to discuss the crisis in war-torn Somalia. The meeting at Nairobi's Harambee House came as more Somalis, including MPs in the Transitional Federal Government fleeing from the Al-Shabaab attacks in southern Somalia, arrived in the country.
The meeting of the National Security Council which is chaired by the President Mwai Kibaki was summoned on Tuesday as the hardline Islamist insurgents stepped up their onslaught to capture Mogadishu which is under TFG’s President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
There were no details from the meeting which was said to have discussed the threat that Kenya faces should the Islamist rebel leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys take over in Somalia.
At the meeting were Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Chief of General Staff Jeremiah Kianga, Defence minister Yusuf Haji, Internal Security minister George Saitoti, Police Commissioner Hussein Ali and National Security Intelligence Services boss Michael Gichangi.
The security council is the topmost organ which makes decision on whether Kenya can sent its forces to intervene in any external crisis.
Mr Odinga and Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula on Monday met the Somalia delegation which is led by Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid and warned that Kenya was ready to defend its national and strategic interests without being categorical about the option of military intervention.
Mr Aweys’ group has warned it will attack Kenya should the government decide to sent its forces to Somalia. Separately, Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojode on Wednesday said the government was not taking such threats lightly and security forces were on high alert.
Speaking after attending a disaster management conference in Nairobi, Mr Ojode said the government would beef up security personnel not only along the porous borders, but also around the country to avert any intended terrorist attacks.
Source: Daily Nation (www.nation.co.ke)
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