28 July 2010, Kampala — The African Union summit yesterday bowed to pressure from the United Nations and turned down a request that it support a change in the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in war-torn Somalia.

It was also agreed that AMISOM, which has until now been hobbled by a mandate which restricts its troops to firing back only when attacked, now enjoy a change in rules of engagement - meaning they are free to carry out pre-emptive strikes against the al Shabaab radical Islamist militants.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Somalia Augustine Mahiga had on Monday delivered the message to a meeting attended by the presidents of Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, Tanzania, prime minister of Ethiopia and other foreign ministers that there is no need to change the current mandate.

Yesterday, Mr Johnnie Carson, the US assistant secretary of State for African Affairs quoted Mr Mahiga as telling a closed door meeting also attended by three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council; United States, France and Britain, that: "It was his view that under the existing mandate, the forces on the ground could act in a more responsible but robust fashion."