Tuesday
January 31, 2012
January 31, 2012
Africa
Kenya's President Kibaki attends the 18th ordinary summit at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on January 28, 2012. AFP / PHOTO
By Kevin J Kelley Nation Correspondent, New York
Posted Monday, January 30 2012 at 13:44
Posted Monday, January 30 2012 at 13:44
President Kibaki on Sunday discussed developments in Somalia with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the African Union summit meeting in Ethiopia.
The talks come on the heels of UNs approval for Kenyan troops, currently battling with the Islamist Al-Shabaab militia in Somali, to transform into a peace keeping mission. (READ: UN approves Kenya’s bid to join African force in Somalia)
A UN statement said the talks between the two leaders focused on “support to the Transitional Federal Government and the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia (Amisom) as well as efforts to combat maritime piracy in the Indian Ocean.”
The Secretary General also “thanked the Kenyan government for hosting a large number of refugees from Somalia,” the UN statement added.
In a speech at the summit's opening session, Mr Ban urged African leaders to respect the rights of gay people.
Saying that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity “had been ignored or even sanctioned by many states for far too long,” Mr Ban said that the rights of gay people must be respected in accordance with the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Obama administration and British Prime Minister David Cameron have also urged African governments to end gay discrimination.
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