President Sharif Ahmed and his problem

[General Duke]

He needs to make a decision is he the Sharif of Mogadishu or the Sharif abroad?

[General Duke]

Sharif abroad

 

With the local lads

[General Duke]

Disagreement in Somalia over U.N. peacekeeper plan

 

21 Mar 21, 2009 - 11:13:48 AM

 

MOGADISHU, Somalia Mar 21 (Garowe Online) - The long-standing dispute over foreign troops has resurfaced in Somalia following reemergence in the interest of expanding the under-staffed African Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) into a full-fledged U.N. peacekeeping force, Radio Garowe reports.

 

Mohamed Abdullahi Oomar, Somalia's new foreign minister, told the U.N. Security Council during a Friday address that the Government of National Unity's top priority is restoring security across the war-torn Horn of Africa country.

 

"The people of Somalia and the international community have paid a high price to reach this point, and we see it as the moment of truth," the Somali Foreign Minister was quoted in a VOA report.

 

 

Foreign Minister Oomar appealed to the U.N. to continue supporting AMISOM peacekeepers and Somali government troops, who are currently being reorganized under the terms of the 2008 Djibouti Agreement.

 

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is expected to present a report to the Security Council in April, detailing whether security and political conditions in Somalia have improved to deploy U.N. blue helmets.

 

Minister Oomar reportedly said the Somali government would welcome the U.N. peacekeeper plan.

 

'Remove AMISOM'

 

Mr. Ahmed Abdullahi "Fanah," a Somali lawmaker, told reporters that Foreign Minister Oomar is "alone" in his comments.

 

"Parliament did not ratify the Foreign Minister's call for U.N. peacekeepers," MP Fanah said, adding: "Somalia does not need new foreign troops, but we need help in building Somali security forces and to remove AMISOM, since the government has approved Islamic law."

 

The Government of National Unity is led by ex-Islamic Courts chief, President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who supports the introduction of a Shari'ah, or Islamic law, as the country's national constitution.

 

The 550-seat expanded Somali Parliament, composed of clan-based and Islamist politicians, is expected to debate and ratify President Sheikh Sharif's request for Shari'ah law soon.

 

Somali MPs have always been divided over the issue of foreign peacekeepers, reflecting on the country's general distaste of foreign soldiers.

 

The Ethiopian army's unpopular two-year military intervention in south-central Somalia, which concluded in January, has further deepened the sentiment and provided fuel for the growing power of Islamists.

 

Violent opposition

 

The issue of foreign peacekeepers has been a cornerstone of Somali politics since 2004, following the election of Col. Abdullahi Yusuf as the interim President of Somalia.

 

He called for a 20,000-strong peacekeeping force that year, but the African Union later approved 8,000 peacekeepers to deploy in Somalia.

 

About 4,000 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi have been serving in Mogadishu since March 2007, where they help protect major infrastructure like the capital's international airport and the main seaport.

 

But Islamist hardliners, namely Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam [Party of Islam], have refused to recognize the authority of President Sheikh Sharif, after accusing him of being a "puppet" of the West.

 

Combined, Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam control vast regions in south-central Somalia, including strongholds in Mogadishu neighborhoods from where they routinely launch attacks on AMISOM peacekeepers.

 

Both groups are factions that broke off from the Islamic Courts movement, which at one point united all of Somalia's various Islamist groups.

 

Somalia has been mired in political anarchy since 1991, when the country's last effective government collapsed.

 

President Sheikh Sharif's Government of National Unity is the international community's 15th attempt to restore national order.

 

The new government faces violent opposition from Islamist hardliners in the south-central regions, and political challenge from regional governments in the northern sub-states of Somaliland and Puntland.

[axmad gurey]

You have a good point and i want to see how he is going to juggle these new events.

[General Duke]

^^^He is being pushed by two powerful opposing forces. The supporters and clan heads who dont want foreign troops. The international community and his own needs which is dependent on foreign troops.

 

Its difficult but he has to make a decesion.

[General Duke]

Info Minister contradicts FM, rejects peacekeepers

22 Mar 22, 2009 - 11:01:09 AM

 

MOGADISHU, Somalia Mar 22 (Garowe Online) - The dispute over foreign peacekeepers deepened in Somalia on Sunday when the country's new information minister contradicted the foreign minister, Radio Garowe reports.

 

Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamud told reporters in the capital Mogadishu that Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Oomar is "alone" in his request for additional peacekeepers to boost the understaffed African Union force (AMISOM) serving in the Somali capital since March 2007.

 

"The Government supports the Muslim scholars' decision that AMISOM leave within 120 days," the Information Minister stated. READ: Islamic scholars' council demands African Union pullout 'within 120 days'

 

 

He rejected Foreign Minister Oomar's appeal at the U.N. Security Council for the deployment of additional peacekeepers, saying: "Somalia does not need more foreign troops."

 

But Minister Oomar defended his call for more peacekeepers, telling the VOA Somali Section that it is "surprising" for Somalis to reject the world's assistance in a country where "2 million people" have fled the civil war since the 1990s.

 

"AMISOM peacekeepers came [to Somalia] at the government's request…and they will stay until peace is restored," the Foreign Minister declared. READ: Disagreement in Somalia over U.N. peacekeeper plan

 

Somalia's new government, which controls only a few neighborhoods in Mogadishu, came to power in January after the conclusion of U.N.-facilitated peace talks.

 

The government's authority is increasingly challenged by Islamist hardliners, who have demanded the withdrawal of AMISOM, and regional administrations in the northern sub-states of Somaliland and Puntland.

 

Islamic law and AMISOM

 

Somalia's parliament which was expanded to 550 MPs to incorporate Islamist moderates under the terms of the Djibouti Agreement is expected to open debate on the introduction of Islamic law, as requested by the government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.

 

On Sunday, a group of MPs held a press conference in Mogadishu to reject Foreign Minister Oomar's peacekeeper plan.

 

MP Abdinasir Garane, who spoke on behalf of the lawmakers, told reporters that the government's decision was to train and equip Somali soldiers.

 

"Islamic law and foreign soldiers cannot go hand-in-hand," MP Garane said, adding that there is "no necessity" for additional peacekeepers.

 

He called on President Sheikh Sharif's Government of National Unity to "remove" AMISOM peacekeepers currently serving in Mogadishu.

 

Foreign peacekeepers are deeply unpopular in Somalia, a Horn of Africa country with a long history of violence against foreign troops.

 

In the mid-1990s, a U.S.-led U.N. peacekeeping mission failed to restore national order and the plunged the country deeper into political chaos.

 

Most recently, Ethiopian troops ended a two-year military intervention that sparked a bloody Islamist insurgency in Mogadishu, with upwards of 16,000 people reportedly killed in the conflict.

 

Source: Garowe Online

[Paragon]

He should take charge and deliberate on the matter. Wuxu waa dawlad not a clan foundation. That should be made crystal clear.

[General Duke]

^^^Indeed why are Ministers speaking against each other?

 

Did the foreign Minister go rogue?

[Meiji]

Originally posted by Paragon:

He should take charge and deliberate on the matter. Wuxu waa dawlad not a clan foundation. That should be made crystal clear.

Mogadishu society made clear its demands, either heed it or go the same path as those before you: dustpin of history.

[Paragon]

^Mogadishu society then cannot hold ransom to law, order, peace and governance. Simple as that. If they don't want to support the Shariif (and his government) in his efforts to bring Mogadishu and Somalia as a whole from the brink, then so be it. But you should know that there will be good governance or no governance.

 

Let the so-called Mogadishu society choose between those options. There is no need for mincing words here; Mogadishu society is and will be subject to the rule of law - just as all other societies in Somalia.

[NGONGE]

Moqadishu society my foot.

[Che -Guevara]

^Behave!

[Meiji]

Why are all getting sensitive?

 

Mogadishu society has every right to demand that no foreign soldiers will be allowed to stay or come to Somalia.

 

Support to an entity only comes after that entity has advanced the interest and security of the people.

 

The inhabitants of Mogadishu city should propagate their interest and security needs, and only when a particular faction heeds it and advances it can they give it support.

 

First perform, then people will support you.

 

---

 

Personally I would advice Mogadishu society to give the middle finger to both factions: the religious warlords and the foreign backed government.

 

They should not give both factions attention and just organize themselves and take care of their affaires.

 

We are better of without the religious warlords and foreign-created government.

[NGONGE]

^^ Come now, saaxib. Meiji has been trying to sell this M Society idea for the past few weeks now but it's not happening. I said it before and I say it again, Moqadishu society waa masaakiin. Everytime a new 'king' is in town, caliinta xun bay la so baxan.

[Che -Guevara]

^Loooooooooooooooooo oL...Mr Meiji is suffering from what I call the Villa Somalia syndrome . The famous patient of this syndrome is Duke!