Somalia meeting calls for peacekeepers and funds

[General Duke]

Somalia meeting calls for peacekeepers and funds

 

 

Nairobi, Kenya (AFP) - An international meeting called for urgent funding for a peacekeeping mission in Somalia which the strife-torn African country's president said was desperately needed, but failed to set a deployment timeline.

 

The United Nations, United States, European Union, African Union, Arab League and East African states discussed the crisis as the Somali government and their Ethiopian allies hunted Islamist leaders that were forced out of Mogadishu last month.

 

 

US naval forces were also patrolling off the Somali coast to ensure Islamists did not flee by sea

 

The panel, known as the international contact group on Somalia, "emphasized the urgent need for funding to facilitate the deployment of a stabilisation force in Somalia based on UN Security Council resolution 1725," said a statement read by Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju on Friday.

 

Previous US and UN peacekeeping forays into Somalia between 1993 and 1995 ended disastrously.

 

"It is essential that an inclusive process of political dialogue and reconciliation reject violence and extremism - be launched without delay," it added.

 

President Abdullahi Yusuf Amed of Somalia called for a "speedy deployment" of international troops which he said would be crucial to hopes of bringing order.

 

The UN has called for the deployment of 8,000 peacekeepers and Uganda has pledged troops. Other potential contributors include Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa and Nigeria.

 

The US top diplomat for Africa Jendayi Frazer said Washington would release an extra 24 million dollars -- 10 million for development and 14 million for the force -- bringing the total US pledge to 40 million dollars.Other donations have yet to be announced.

 

"It is very important that the governement reach out very broadly (to) include moderate elements of the Islamic Courts Union ... It is the Somalis to identify who is moderate," she added.

 

In Brussels, the 27 EU countries urged the government "to turn its military victory into a political success, which implies an opening up and an inclusive (political) process," a diplomat told AFP, adding that inclusion of Islamist moderates would be "a condition for the continuation of our aid".

 

"The transitional federal government is already a governement of inclusivety," responded Somali Foreign Minister Ismael Muhamoud Hurreh.

 

No deployment date has been set, but the force will be designed to help the Somali president increase control of his lawless nation, which is still splintered along clan lines.

 

At the contact group meeting, Kenya, which organised the regional initiative that brokered the formation of the government, warned of renewed anarchy in Somalia if international support was delayed.

 

"Failure to act immediately will lead to vacuum that would certainly be exploited by the warlords and other extremist forces," Tuju said.

 

In Addis Ababa, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi also called in a joint statement for the "immediate deployment" of troops in Somalia.

 

AU commission chairman Alpha Omar Konare told the two leaders "we need to have an immediate response," and added that the African body would oversee the whole exercise.

 

Earlier this week, Ethiopian troops backing government forces forced Islamist fighters out of their final strongholds, after a two-week war, and vowed to unify the country, which disintegrated following the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

 

The Islamists last year restored some order by quelling warlords. But largely Christian Ethiopia supported the weak two-year-old transitional government and said the Islamists were a threat to Ethiopian security.

 

The Islamists have vowed to wage a guerrilla war against the government.

 

Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri meanwhile called for a jihad, or holy war, in Somalia to help the Islamists, in an audio message released Friday.

 

"I call on all Muslims to respond to the call for jihad in Somalia," Osama bin Laden's deputy said in the message posted on a website normally used by Al-Qaeda.

 

"The real war will start with attacks against the Ethiopian forces of aggression," said the recording, whose authenticity could not be verified.

 

Previous peacekeeping forays into Somalia between 1993 and 1995 ended badly. The international troops were forced to withdraw, leaving the country in shambles after more than 140 UN troops and 18 US Special Forces troops were killed.

 

But analysts have warned that unless the Somali government receives resources to enable it extend its control across the country, the presence of peacekeepers could resemble an occupation which Somalis would reject.

 

The Nairobi meeting was the latest attempt to help the nation of about 10 million people, whose life has been compounded by recurrent famine, drought and flooding.

 

Source: AFP, Jan 05, 2007

[General Duke]

Somali President: Peace Force Now

 

Nairobi, Jan 5 (Prensa Latina) Somalia President Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed Friday called for the rapid deployment of a peace force in his country with financial and technical support to guarantee a "democratic government."

 

 

Yusuf Ahmed made his statements during the meeting of the International Contact Group, which is being held in this city with the participation of Somalia and representatives of the Arab League, the African Union, Europe, and the US under Secretary for Africa Affairs, Jendayi Frazer.

 

 

In his speech, the Somali president called for the rapid deployment of a peace mission force and the fulfillment of the agreement adopted in the UN Security Council resolution in December.

 

 

He also asked for financial support and technical support "to reinforce their government institutions" in order to keep peace and security, adding that his cabinet is ready "to do whatever is necessary".

 

 

When talking about the Somali forces offensive supported by Ethiopia, the president said that his administration is controlling most of the areas of the country where the Islamic Courts Union were expelled.

 

 

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[Lake]

The man looks pathetic