Government begins return from exile

[General Duke]

Government begins return from exile

From correspondents in Nairobi

 

February 09, 2005

From: Agence France-Presse

Advertisement:

SSOMALIA's exiled transitional government will begin moving back to Somalia on February 21, Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi said today.

 

The the decision to move back from Kenya followed a fact-finding mission of politicians who went to the Somali capital of Mogadishu earlier this month to assess security, Mr Gedi said.

"Considering the findings of the mission ... we (have decided) to start our official relocation on the 21st of February," he said.

 

But the speed with which the government returned would depend heavily on outside help, Mr Gedi said.

 

"All depends on the way the donor community will support us to speed the operation and to start the process of relocation."

 

The announcement came a day after Somali warlords in Mogadishu handed over the presidential palace, the main port and the national radio to the transitional government.

 

Yesterday, the African Union authorised sending troops to help the transitional administration relocate following the government's weekend decision to accept such a peacekeeping mission.

 

The regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, which groups Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Djibouti and Sudan, will initially provide troops and equipment for the mission.

 

Transitional Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, his government led by Mr Gedi and the parliament have been based in Nairobi since they were elected last October amid continued fears of instability in Somalia.

 

The Islamic nation of about 10 million people has been in conflict since leader Siad Barre was toppled in 1991, plunging the nation into a patchwork of fiefdoms governed by unruly warlords.

[General Duke]

SOMALIA: Transitional government sets relocation date

09 Feb 2005 10:51:06 GMT

 

Source: IRIN

 

NAIROBI, 9 February (IRIN) - Somalia's transitional federal government plans to start relocating from Nairobi, Kenya, to Mogadishu on 21 February, Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi said on Wednesday.

 

"We will begin relocating on that date depending on support from the donor community," Gedi said in Nairobi at the signing of a declaration of principles for cooperation with the international community. "A budget for relocation has been drawn up and handed over to donors."

 

The declaration of principles, signed by Gedi and the special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, Winston Tubman, lays out the obligations of the transitional government and the international community in their dealings with each other.

 

"The intention of the declaration is to set goalposts by which the government's progress will be judged, and to assess the international community's fulfilment of its own obligations to the government," Bethuel Kiplagat, Kenya's special envoy for the Somali peace process, told IRIN.

 

Expressing optimism about the future of Somalia, Kiplagat added: "Problems can and will happen, but as long as the Somali government puts down firm roots, it will be able to weather these problems."

 

At an African Union (AU) summit in Abuja, Nigeria, in late January the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the AU both pledged to deploy peace support missions to Somalia to facilitate the peaceful relocation of the government.

 

Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda have committed themselves to supporting a peace mission for Somalia by providing troops or equipment to an IGAD force.

 

Gedi also confirmed that Mogadishu would continue be the Somali capital and seat of government once the relocation was complete.

 

Somalia's transitional federal parliament elected Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as president on 10 October 2004, bringing to an end a two-year reconciliation process sponsored by IGAD. He in turn appointed Gedi, who later named a cabinet.

 

Since then, the new government, which includes several faction leaders, has remained in Nairobi, citing security considerations. However, it has come under pressure from Kenya's government and western diplomats to move to Mogadishu.

 

Last week, the new cabinet approved the deployment of 5,000 to 7,000 foreign troops to help restore law and order in the country. A team of MPs also arrived in Mogadishu to assess the situation.

[General Duke]

Somali exiled leaders to return home

 

 

Wednesday 09 February 2005, 17:33 Makka Time, 14:33 GMT

 

 

 

President Ahmad has announced plans to return to Somalia

 

Somalia's exiled government is seeking $77.3 million to fund its relocation from Kenya and restore law and order to the war-torn country, officials in Nairobi have said.

The money will help the transitional government to rebuild district and regional administrations and launch efforts to reconcile the country.

 

Somalia has divided into a patchwork of battling fiefdoms ruled by heavily armed militias, according to a document presented to UN officials and diplomats.

 

With thousands of militias roaming Somalia, there has been no effective central administration since civil war erupted in 1991.

 

 

Last year, a group of Somali politicians formed a government in exile, based in Kenya, with Abd Allah Yusuf Ahmad elected the transitional president.

 

Somali government officials plan to begin relocating to the Horn of Africa nation on 21 February, "but all depends on the way the donor community supports us," Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gidi told the donors at a meeting.

 

 

Somali politicians formed a

transitional government in Kenya

 

Donors have so far contributed and pledged at least $7 million out of the $77.3 million the government has calculated it needs, according to the document.

 

The programme will begin with the relocation of the government to Somalia and will run for six months.

 

 

 

International recognition

 

Diplomats at the meeting said they expected firm commitments to be made now that a date for the return had been set.

 

Somalia's government, formed after complex negotiations between regional commanders, clan leaders and civil society representatives, is based in Kenya because Somali capital Mogadishu is considered too unsafe.

 

Plans to restore peace, law and order in Somalia, however, do not cover the breakaway republic of Somaliland that refused to recognize President Abd Allah Yusuf, who was chosen by the transitional parliament last October.

 

The government is seeking $23.3 million to disarm and demobilize 53,000 militias and reintegrate them into civilian life.

 

Re-building civil society

 

It is also appealing for $2.03 million to relocate 987 government officials, traditional leaders and activists to Somalia.

 

They will be relocated throughout Somalia "in order to root the newly formed institutions into the country", according to the appeal.

 

Somali officials are also asking donors to provide money to help them form a new police force and repair police stations and command centres.

 

 

Somalia has been wracked with

militia violence for over a decade

 

The biggest challenge will be restoring law and order. The African Union announced on Tuesday that it had

authorised five east African nations to deploy troops and equipment to help with the government's return home.

 

The size of the force has yet to be decided, though the Somali cabinet has asked for a combined 7500 troops from

African Union and Arab League nations

 

Somalia has had no effective central government since opposition leaders ousted dictator Muhammad Siad Barri in 1991. Then they turned on each other, sinking a nation of 7 million into anarchy.