Bishop says more U.S. strikes on Somalia would make things worse

Published: 2007-01-09

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While he has said for years that terrorists were hiding out in Somalia, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Mogadishu said more U.S. airstrikes would only make things worse. Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti, who also oversees the church in Somalia's chaotic and violent capital, spoke to the Vatican's Fides news agency Jan. 9, the day after a U.S. Air Force gunship fired on suspected al-Qaida terrorists in southern Somalia. "Prudence must guide all human activities, and it is even more important when taking action in a country like Somalia," Bishop Bertin said. "This act risks throwing more fuel on an already explosive situation." The bishop added, "I do not think this attack reinforces the support of Somalia's population for the fragile government of transition and for Ethiopia," which helped the transitional government regain control of the country in late December and early January. A Pentagon official told The New York Times late Jan. 8 that a U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship operating from a base in Djibouti fired on suspected al-Qaida terrorists in southern Somalia, causing multiple casualties.

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