The Italian minister of foreign affairs, Franco Frattini has said that the government of Italy has committed itself to support, by training and helping to facilitate, African Mission in Somalia (AMSOM) troops.
Italy has also pledged to to mobilize other European Union states to raise funds to help AMSON and feed displaced Somalians.
Frattini is on a working visit in Uganda where he arrived today with a delagation of over 20 people including journalists and businessmen.
After meeting president Museveni today at state house, he held a press conference in Kampala where he said, “Italy will help in supporting the African union troops in Somalia. We will also help in training Somali police and some Somali soldiers so that they can effectively fight against terrorists in Somalia.”
On the relationship with Uganda he said it has always been very good even during the days when Uganda was abandoned by the rest of the world, a time when Uganda had bad leaders.
He added that Italy is to continue supporting Uganda in its efforts to develop.
When asked about Italy’s opinion about the controversial anti-gay bill, he said that he is not aware about it.
After being told by Uganda’s foreign minister Sam Kutesa that it is not a government bill but a private members bill to be discussed in parliament, he said Italy will wait for the outcome of the bill’s discussions before making any comments.
According to him, ENI, an Italian oil company, has interest in investing in the exploitation of oil in Uganda and is ready to invest billions of dollars in the country’s oil industry.
