Payne gives wide ranging interview with AllAfrica.com

by: Jason Springer

Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 01:30:00 PM EDT

Congressman Donald Payne on a recent trip to Darfur.

Photo Courtesy of Theodros Dagne

Congressman Donald Payne is the chairman of the the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health. This is what AllAfrica had to say about him and his knowledge of African issues:

He is widely viewed as the leading expert on African affairs in the Congress. He has traveled throughout the continent, including two recent trips to east and southern Africa. In a series of recent interchanges with AllAfrica, he discussed those trips and outlined his views on many of the most pressing African issues.

Here are some of the highlights from the interview. On Sudan and whether the Congressman thinks the sanctions should remain in place:

I would hope that President Obama's administration is not thinking about relaxing sanctions or making any kind of concessions to the government of Sudan. I would hope that we are not going to allow Bashir to continue to reign terror on the people of Darfur and also not really comply with the CPA.

Below the fold I'll have more of the Congressman's interview.

Jason Springer :: Payne gives wide ranging interview with AllAfrica.com

They asked him about having missiles fired on his airplane:

We didn't know it until we were met by security advisers when we got on the ground in Nairobi. The missiles missed us, but we have reports that five people were killed and 17 or 18 injured as a result of the attack. We have expressed our sincere condolences to the families of the victims. And we encourage the Somali people to continue to forge forward.

On whether we'll see a different approach from the Obama Administration to Somalia and Ethiopia:

I don't think the Obama team has decided what their policy should be toward Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a very important country. It has had long ties with the United States. One of the first countries I visited back in the early [19]70s was Ethiopia, when Emperor Haile Selassie was there. Ethiopia has a long history, a rich history.
We should attempt to have good relations with them. However, I would hope the current administration would tell Prime Minister Meles [Zenawi] that for good relations [with the United States] you have to stop the dictatorial policies. You can't arrest people without cause. You can't have the corruption that goes on. You can't have courts that are unjust. And you have to stop military attacks on the unarmed civilians of the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. You need to have discussions with them so that there can be autonomy.
As for Somalia, I held a hearing in the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health with representatives from south-central Somalia, Puntland, the AU, and the UN and the consensus was that more support is needed for the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in defeating el Shabaab and the foreign fighters from the Middle East that have gone to Somalia to engage in the terrorist violence. I believe the Obama administration also sees the need for this and hope to work with Assistant Secretary [Johnnie] Carson to prevent a takeover by the extremists in Somalia.

Here's the link to the photo essay of the trip with some real good pictures.