Foreign Minister Seyoum talks with Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamma

[Suldaanka]

Foreign Minister Seyoum talks with Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamma

 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

 

This week, the spiritual leader of Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamma, Sheikh Mahamud Sheikh Hassan Farah, accompanied by a 14 member delegation visited Addis Ababa, holding discussions with Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin last Sunday. Sheikh Mahamud briefed Minister Seyoum on Ahlu Sunna’s aims and objectives. He pointed out the movement’s primary goal was for the different communities in Somalia to live in peaceful coexistence without any one group imposing its will on others. Ahlu Sunna believed in the absolute necessity of promoting good neighborliness in the region. Sheikh Mahamud added that a necessary condition for peace and stability in Somalia and the region was the removal of extremist elements from Somalia, particularly Al-Shabaab.

 

Sheikh Mahamud emphasized that Ahlu Sunna fully accepted that the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has the recognition of the international community, and it must therefore be the basis for all internal and external efforts to bring peace, stability and order to Somalia under the Djibouti Agreement. Any government that excluded extremists is better than no government, and Ahlu Sunna was ready to work with the TFG. At the same time he noted that the agreement signed between Ahlu Sunna and the TFG in Nairobi in June has not worked out as Ahlu Sunna had hoped. He said Ahlu Sunna had confronted Al-Shabaab over 30 times during the last year and had been able to defeat it regularly. Full implementation of the Nairobi agreement would have created conditions to weaken and eventually wipe out Al-Shabaab - Hizbul Islam forces from most of Somalia. He added that Ahlu Sunna was now preparing to hold its first Congress. Once this had been held it would be able to devote all its energies to engage extremists more fully throughout central and south Somalia.

 

Sheikh Mahamud said he was dismayed by the apparent emergence of a parallel movement. He hoped the TFG leadership would assist in maintaining the unity of Ahlu Sunna to enable it to co-operate with the TFG more effectively. He appealed to Minister Seyoum for Ethiopian mediation to eliminate any minor differences between the TFG and Ahlu Sunna and to help keep Ahlu Sunna united. Sheikh Mahamud emphasized that Ethiopia could help towards the fulfillment of the common objectives of all Somalis and assist the international community to understand more clearly where its own interests lie.

 

Minister Seyoum on his part expressed his appreciation of the stance of Sheikh Mahamud and of Ahlu Sunna towards the TFG, the legitimate government of Somalia born out of the Djibouti process with full support from the international community. He agreed with Ahlu Sunna on the absolute need to promote peaceful co-existence in Somalia and the region, and to remove extremist elements. The Minister acknowledged the existence of problems within Ahlu Sunna and in its relations with the TFG but made it clear he thought these were not basic differences and that they could easily be resolved by negotiation and compromise. He said it was the philosophy of Ahlu Sunna, based on tolerance and moderation, which united all Somalis. The opposite view was that of Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam which not only promoted extremism but was also closely linked to international Jihadist movements and “spoilers”, in particular, Al Qaeda. The ideology of extremism was the primary cause of the lack of peace and stability in Somalia today, and posed increasing threats to the region and beyond.

 

Minister Seyoum emphasized the need for Ahlu Sunna to work with the TFG. The Government of Ethiopia, he said, would assist in any way to bring unity to Ahlu Sunna, and encourage cooperation with the TFG so they could face the common challenge from extremism together. He noted if existing minor differences between the TFG and Ahlu Sunna were allowed to widen, it would create more opportunities for Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, and also lead to further difficulties for Ethiopia, the region and the International Community, making it harder to assist Somalia to reach peace and stability.

 

Meanwhile, a meeting of the Defense Ministers of AMISOM troop contributing countries and their partners was held on Monday, in Addis Ababa. Chaired by AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra, the Defense Ministers of Uganda and Burundi and the Somali Minister of National Security were joined by representatives of the United Nations, the League of Arab States, the European Union, the Chair of IGAD Partners’ Forum, permanent representatives of the UN Security Council, Ethiopia, Libya and Djibouti. The newly appointed Special Representative of the Chairperson of the AU for Somalia, Ambassador Diarra Boubacar Gaoussou, was introduced to the meeting which discussed recent developments in Somalia, strongly condemning the recent suicide bombing in Mogadishu, and paying tribute to those who lost their lives. It discussed yesterday’s International Contact Meeting in Jeddah which provided the TFG with an opportunity to highlight its proposed progress towards achieving peace and stability in Somalia. The meeting noted the continued inability of AMISOM to reach its authorized strength and urged that recruitment and training programs of the Somali security forces be further encouraged, emphasizing the need to train, equip, sustain and retain these adequately. It proposed a study of the new requirements necessary for AMISOM, including training for Somali security forces. The meeting also noted the operational limitations on AMISOM’s maritime and air defense capabilities and called for assistance in building these up. It also called on those countries which had yet to fulfill their Brussels’ pledges to do so urgently. The EU confirmed payment of Euro 5.4 million to AMISOM troop contributing countries and announced that a further instalment of Euro 30 million would follow shortly. The meeting expressed its appreciation to the troop contributing countries for their commitment to peace in Somalia, and encouraged Djibouti and other states to deploy promised contingents to AMISOM as soon as possible

[GAAROODI]

I know this was gonna happen, the ethiopians now are siding with the lesser evil ahlul sunnah wal jamaca...to start arms supply to combat the threat of alshabab, smart xabashies, loool ! basic the enemy of my enemy is my friend tac tic. looool ! you will see a rise in ahlul sunah wal jamaca. looool !