CAPE TOWN, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The United States should not get involved in stabilising war-torn Somalia, where Washington's motives could be questioned, South Africa's Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Wednesday. "Given the history of the U.S. in Somalia, it would seem to me that it would have been better, and it will be better, to introduce in that situation countries which do not come with historical baggage," Lekota said at a news briefing. "I do not think it is helpful when you bring into the situation countries whose motives may be questioned." The United States embassy in Nairobi had no comment. The top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, has said Washington would prefer to "lead from behind" on peace efforts in Somalia, and any military involvement in a peacekeeping force has all but been ruled out. It has, however, agreed to contribute $40 million to reconstruction and the financing of a proposed African Union peacekeeping mission. The United States has not had a presence in Somalia since 1994 after a failed U.N. intervention which began as a military food-aid effort in 1992. The U.S. withdrawal came after 18 U.S. soldiers and at least 300 Somalis were killed in an October 1993 battle in the capital Mogadishu, which was depicted in the movie "Black Hawk Down." South Africa itself has declined to offer soldiers to the AU force for Somalia, where the government backed by Ethiopian troops ousted rival Islamists in a brief December war. South Africa says it will offer technical support to the mission, but is too stretched by other peacekeeping commitments to contribute militarily. Before the war, the Islamists exploited anti-U.S. sentiment to whip up opposition to the Ethiopian-backed interim government, and portrayed Ethiopia as Washington's puppet in a counter-terrorism war many Muslims view as an attack on Islam.
