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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

ETHIOPIA: Regional task force set up to combat disaster

ADDIS ABABA, 30 July 2003 (IRIN) - An 11-nation African regional task force is being set up to combat disasters and help ward off terrorism in the region, a top US military official said on Wednesday.

John Abizaid, the US Central Command chief, said the African disaster management team which is backed by the US military, would ensure greater stability in the region.

“We seek stability, we seek a defence against the terrorist attacks that have been active, not only throughout this region but also throughout the world,” he told a news conference in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

“We know that we can only defeat terrorism collectively,” he added.

Burundi, DRC, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania and Uganda are all backing the initiative to combat man-made and natural disasters.

Under the plans, drawn up over the last two days in Addis Ababa, the regional task force will be set up to ensure a collective response to emergencies.

“The next disaster that affects the region could be a flood, could be an airliner crash or it could be in the aftermath of a deadly terrorist act,” Abizaid said.

He said the task force would not physically fight terrorism but would "provide the basis of a response” once an attack has taken place.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said his country would leave “no stone unturned” in supporting the initiative.

“Ours is a region which has been prone to conflict and has had more than its fair share of the calamities that are the consequences of conflicts,” he said. “Ours has also been a region that has attracted the attention of those determined to spread chaos."

“No other the region of the world requires an extended respite for economic development and economic renewal as our region does,” he added.

The initiative follows the 2003 Golden Spear Symposium in Addis Ababa – a forum sponsored by US Central Command to bolster dialogue between African countries on security issues.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict

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