Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula said his country is contemplating about sending peacekeeping troops to the neighboring war-torn Somalia.

Wetangula told reporters in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia that they can’t be sit back and watch as Somalia disintegrate into further chaos.

“Somalia is our neighbor and its stability is our responsibility because the fire burning there is also reaching us,” said Wetangula.

Kenya’s president Mwai Kibaki who addressed AU summit in Addis said the escalating conflict in Somalia is affecting his country, pledging support to end the conflict.

However, Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister said his country is not ready to deploy troops to Somalia at the moment, arguing that there is no peace to keep.

Djibouti, a neighboring country that plays crucial role in Somalia’s peace and reconciliation process, said it’s deploying some 450 troops to join the 5,300 AU peacekeeping forces, which are mainly Uganda and Burundi.

Somalia has been without a central government since 1991 when Mogadishu warlords toppled the regime of President Mohammed Siad Barre.

GAROWE ONLINE