The alliance between Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the US has Fadiru Bashiru Koroma from Sierra Leone thinking

Meles Zenawi is dining with the devil - with his new-found relationship with the US Government of President Bush.

Maybe before befriending America and working in its interests in Somalia, Meles should have looked at the history of the late President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein.

He would have seen how America once hailed him and finally destroyed him. Perhaps only then would Mr Meles know what tragedy lies ahead of this new found friendship.

Thursday 11th January

Peter Bassey in Calabar, Nigeria, is in support of the USA attacks on southern Somalia.

We Africans tend to accept too readily the demonisation of President Bush and the Americans. Here is a nation's leader, going after a group of people responsible for the killing of American citizens, and we feel he should refrain purely because the theatre is Africa.

Luckily for itself, America has the means to be able to go for its enemies wherever in the world they may run to. Those enemies should remind themselves of that each time they pick on the US and so should those who harbour them.

America is simply doing what every nation wishes it had the ability to do itself. So let the enemies of that nation squirm all they want, they do not have my sympathies.

Wednesday 10th January

Jacob Sax Conteh in Virginia, USA, sent this letter commenting on the bomb attacks on Somalia by the United States of America.

It is an outrage that the Bush administration has used bases in Djibouti to bombard and kill what could be hundreds of Somalis in the name of their 'War Against Terror'.

At a time when an overwhelming majority of people here in the United States are against President Bush and his policies in Iraq, it is no surprise that he went to Somalia - an easy target - and one that many ignorant Americans will believe is a just cause.

Let me warn the interim government in Somalia that any government that relies on foreign forces to rule its people, will one day have to answer directly to those same people.

Monday 8th January

Although it's only January, Mangeni Raphael in Kampala wants to look ahead to the Commonwealth heads of governments meeting taking place in his country towards the end of the year:

It's absurd to hear that Her Majesty the Queen will be visiting Uganda in November this year.

This visit indicates that Uganda is a peaceful country - a far cry from the violent past during which our fallen son, Andrew Lutakome Kaira was killed in 1987 shortly after being released from prison by the government where he'd been held on allegations of attempting to overthrow President Museveni.

However, to date we are yet to know the outcome of the probe into Kaira's death which was also investigated by Her Majesty's Scotland Yard detectives and a report handed to President Museveni in May 1987.

This gives us the impression that the government is hiding something.