Jabhad Posted December 18, 2006 Somalia: Premier Accuses Igad Member States of Hindering Peace Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu) December 18, 2006 Aweys Osman Yusuf Mogadishu Somali Prime minister was questioned today about his cabinet ministers' effectiveness and developments in the past three months when the cabinet was reshuffled. Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi was present at the session that the transitional parliament held in Baidoa on Monday. The parliament session in which premier Gedi delivered a speech was participated by 150 parliamentarians and members of Puntland delegation that attained Baidoa Sunday. Gedi who was being put to many questions by MPs explained what his cabinet has achieved so far in the past three months, indicating his cabinet forestalled terrorist attacks destined to kill government officials. Asked how Islamic Courts happened to clutch Bur Hakaba and Dinsor, districts that were under the government control before they fell to Islamists, Gedi pointed out that although Islamists claimed residents in those districts invited them, it occurred because the government was too careless to react. "But now the government is fully geared up to attack back every one that tries to invade the government positions", he said. The prime minister's speech comes as hours are left for rival Islamists that gave the Ethiopian government seven days, (which will last Tuesday), to pull its troops based in Baidoa to safeguard the Somali government out of the country, or that it would encounter major attacks. Yemeni government that is trying to broker peace deal between the government and Islamic Courts has enabled the powerful parliament speaker Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden and Islamic Courts chairperson Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed to meet in Sana and concur on peace talks. Source in Sana say Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Salah has also contacted Ethiopian premier Males Zenawi for an attempt to create peace accord between Somalia's Islamists and the Ethiopian government. Gedi has condemned Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti, member states of the regional body (IGAD) for impeding IGAD's mobilization of troop deployment in Somalia to find stability and peace in the country. "Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is demanding foreign troops in his country, is hampering the peacekeepers from coming to Somalia. Djibouti that has foreign forces in its country says no foreign forces to Somalia. These are the countries that are undermining IGAD's efforts to bring peace to Somalia", he said. He also accused some media outlets of backing up the Islamic Courts based in central and southern provinces in the country. Gedi warned that if war happened in Somalia, it would not only influence the region, but it would also be global. "The African Union summit in Abuja, heads of states commonly agreed that Islamic Courts in Somalia are diseases which can spread rapidly in the African continent, so they decided to avert them before spreading", he added. He said the government has the right to bring Ethiopian troops in the country, laying the blame on Islamic Courts for inviting rival Eritrean troops in Somalia. Experts fear Somalia could become a proxy war for arch foes Ethiopia and Eritrea that fought border battles from 1998 to 2000. The transitional government was formed in Kenya in 2004 after protracted negotiations and with the participation of the country's warlords. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jabhad Posted December 18, 2006 Somalia: Yemen And Sudan Urge Ethiopia to Pull Its Troops Out of Country Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu) December 18, 2006 Posted to the web December 18, 2006 Aweys Osman Yusuf Mogadishu -Yemen's effort to mollify the dire situation in Somalia was supplemented by an endeavor of Sudan that is also taking roles in preventing the Horn of African country from falling into clannish wars again. The news came as Ethiopian troops were massed along the Ethiopian border with Somalia. Fresh Ethiopian troops were also brought in the government base of Baidoa to protect the transitional federal government (TFG) against the expected invasion of Islamic Courts fighters that gave an ultimatum, which will last tomorrow. The ultimatum calls on the Ethiopian government to pull its troops out of the country or that it will face major jihad wars. Reliable sources in Yemen say that Sudan and Yemen were cooperating to convince the Ethiopian government to withdraw its troops from Somalia to calm aggravating situation in the country. Sources also say the two countries appealed that IGAD, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, should give Somalia's peace talks mediated by Arab League a chance as Abdurahman Mohammed Hussein, Sudanese defense minister, convened with premier Males Zenawi in Addis Ababa, raising the ultimatum Islamists gave and the threat that they would launch a jihad on Ethiopian military forces in Somalia. The Islamist delegation le by Sheik Sharif, the chair of Islamic Courts, met with Mr. Salah in the Yemeni capital Sana, concentrating on the solution sought for Somalia's political crises. Yemeni proposal is to urge Ethiopia to withdraw its troops from Somalia. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
