African leaders condemned Somalia's al Shabaab rebels on Sunday at a Kampala summit officials say will beef up an African force fighting the group behind attacks that killed 76 people in Uganda this month. The African Union (AU) meeting in the Ugandan capital, the site of two suicide attacks on soccer fans watching the World Cup final on television, has put the Somali crisis at the top of the agenda and more than 30 African leaders are under pressure to respond, according to Reuters. The summit's main debating point has been the mandate of an AU peacekeeping force of 6,300, which has been responsible for preventing Somalia's government falling to rebel attacks in the capital Mogadishu. The force is made of up of Ugandan and Burundian troops and that, together with allegations that it has killed civilians with indiscriminate shelling, was the reason given by the rebels for the attack. Delegates told Reuters a cap of 8,100 on troop levels would be lifted during the meeting. A more contentious possibility was that the force, known as AMISOM, be given permission to go after the rebels. It can now fight only when attacked. AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping called the al Shabaab attacks "despicable" and said the continental body was ready to step up its response. "The commission is already planning the next phases in the deployment of AMISOM in terms of the enlarged mandate, increased troop strength and appropriate equipment," he said. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said his government condemned the attack and called al Shabaab "extremists". Nigeria has pledged in the past to send troops to Somalia, but has yet to do so. -- SPA
