/ 29 August 2007

Lekota: Africom should stay off the continent

The United States Africa Command (Africom) should stay out of the African continent, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Wednesday.

Africom was not really a new development, as the US has always had some kind of focus on the African continent, he told a media briefing in Cape Town.

”But, the Africom initiative has raised a lot of interest and a lot of attention, because at some point, there is a certain sense that Africa has to avoid the presence of foreign forces on [its] soil.

”There’s a certain sense in the countries of our region [the Southern African Development Community] that if there was to be an influx of armed forces into one or other of the African countries, that might affect the relations between the sister countries, and not encourage an atmosphere, or in a sense, of security,” he said.

SADC countries had agreed not to host Africom, or more particularly, armed forces.

As far as he was aware, the majority of the other regions of the continent had also taken that position, Lekota said.

”My understanding is that the continental position … [is] we have no quarrel with Africom as such, but the issue of its location in the continent.

”On that issue I think the continent is at one, that we wouldn’t want to see new forces brought on the continent,” Lekota said.

Africom is expected to be established by the end of September next year with initial headquarters in Germany and eventual headquarters on the African continent. — Sapa