Xudeedi Posted March 21, 2005 I am so glad the world is now paying much attention to this Org's malicious desire to derail Somali's peace effort. ---------------------------------- East African countries criticise ICG on Somalia Sun March 20, 2005 1:10 PM GMT+02:00 NAIROBI (Reuters) - East African states have attacked the influential International Crisis Group (ICG) and other unnamed advocacy groups for creating confusion in the region and threatening Somalia's peace process. In an unusual move, ministers from east African peace body IGAD said reports by ICG, a conflict prevention organisation, were damaging to the African sub-region. IGAD members states include Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. "The position and advice that the International Crisis Group (ICG) has been giving has resulted in damages to the region and to the peace process in Somalia," said an IGAD statement received by Reuters on Sunday. "While condemning the activities of these groups, (IGAD) called upon the Somali people to be vigilant." Officials said the statement was written on Friday at the end of a two-day meeting in Nairobi to discuss the contentious issue of deployment of African peacekeepers to Somalia. Plans by the African Union (AU) to deploy peacekeepers to Somalia from Kenya, Djibouti and traditional rival Ethiopia have sparked an angry reaction from many Somalis, including warlords and militant Islamists who have promised to attack the troops. Somalia has been carved up into fiefdoms run by rival warlords since 1991. A transitional government was formed in neighbouring Kenya last year and is trying to establish itself inside Somalia. Analysts said the statement by IGAD ministers could put conflict prevention experts operating in the lawless Somalia into danger. Matt Bryden, an ICG expert said he suspected the ministers were unhappy with the crisis group's stand that the deployment of peacekeepers to Somalia was a highly divisive issue and should proceed only when a consensus was reached. On Friday, IGAD ministers took steps to defuse the situation by agreeing to limit its initial AU-backing to deployment of troops from Uganda and Sudan. "Our position has been that if it is forced it could destabilise the Somalia peace process," Bryden said, adding ICG would give its official reaction to the statement on Monday. A majority of Somalia's members of parliament voted on Thursday against the deployment of border states to Somalia, but after the vote the lawmakers came to blows with MPs throwing metal chairs at each other. Kenyan police on Saturday detained Somalia's commerce minister Muse Sudi Yalahow and two other MPs in connection with the fighting and then released on a free bond. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Xudeedi Posted March 21, 2005 Why does Matt Bryden hate Somalia and its people so much? Bill Ainashe Many readers are fully aware of, the pessimist political propaganda against the Somali Nation is not only coming from the myopic clanist and the their warlords but it is coming also from a group of people whose their life and career depends on the continuation of the bloody Somali political conflict. The International Crisis Group spearheaded by the racist, anti African, and anti Muslim “analyst†Matt Bryden keeps lecturing us and anyone else who will listen on the “looming collapse†of the Somali peace process and on how peace and prosperity can never be achieved in Somalia. I understand that that Matt Bryden is in precarious position. He knows that he and his international crisis manufacturing group will go bankrupt with a world without a conflict. Indeed, the continuation of the Somali political conflict is a “milking†cow for Mr. Bryden and his group. The role of the International Crisis Group or the international crisis manufacturing group if you like is just like that of the undertaker. The undertaker’s very existence depend on others misfortune, i.e. the death of follow human being. In addition, while the relatives of the deceased are mourning about the sad and unfortunate lost of their love ones, the undertaker rejoice with the job he has got by burying the dead and the salary that comes along with it. In a similar fashion, the international crisis manufacturing groups prosper on the continuation of the agony of our people. Hence, just the like the undertaker they rejoice when a conflict erupts in Somalia or elsewhere for that matter. In short, they do not care about the plight of our people but they use the misery of our people to fill their Bank accounts by conducting highly publizised fundraising events worldwide. However, I suspect that Mr. Bryden has another agenda since he made a lifetime career out of burying any positive news from Somalia by bombarding with loads of pessimistic and factually erroneous reports jus as he did earlier this week with the publication of their last report on Somalia. Well, Mr. Bryden should know by now that the time when whatever a white man with a phony title such as “analyst†says about the black Africa was treated as a messianic message is over! Now, Africans want to write about themselves in their own terms without the old fashion racist notion that only Mr. Bryden and his likes are well suited to write an authoritative report about the Blackman, his socio-economic and political environment. Well, I have a very bad news for Mr. Bryden: we can write about our selves and we do not need YOU! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macalimuu Posted March 21, 2005 Crisis Group Response to IGAD Charge Nairobi/Brussels, 21 March 2005: The International Crisis Group regrets the charge by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development's Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs at its meeting of 18 March 2005, that our position and advice has "resulted in damages to the region and to the peace process in Somalia". The International Crisis Group has long worked closely with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and its member states. The IGAD-led peace process for Sudan and the peace process in Northern Uganda are just two of the cases in which Crisis Group analysis and expertise have been made available to IGAD members in pursuit of peace, security and development of the region. Crisis Group has also welcomed and supported IGAD's engagement in the Somali peace process since its inception in October 2002. Crisis Group continues, however, to draw attention to the deep divisions among the Somali people over the issue of deployment of foreign peacekeeping troops, especially from the neighbouring "Frontline States" of Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya. These divisions are manifest in the many public demonstrations throughout Somalia in recent weeks, the statements of Somali political leaders and civil society organisations, and reports and commentary in the Somali media. The unfortunate and indecorous scenes of violence in the Somali Transitional Federal Parliament on 17 March 2005 provided ample evidence of a house and a nation divided. In public statements and letters to concerned heads of state, governments and intergovernmental organisations, Crisis Group had consistently argued that this issue must be handled with great sensitivity if it is not to destabilise Somalia's transitional institutions and threaten the peace process. We are particularly concerned that any decisions concerning peacekeeping forces and the related issue of an interim seat of government, be reached through thorough, transparent consultation with the parties concerned and receive the unambiguous approval of the Somali Transitional Federal Parliament. The IGAD governments are aware that Crisis Group's concerns in this regard are shared by the members of the IGAD Partners Forum. A statement from the President of the United Nations Security Council on 7 March also affirmed that such a mission "would require the support of the Somali people". Crisis Group welcomes the commitment of IGAD and its members to peace in Somalia and congratulates them on having guided the peace process so far. We urge them to give due attention to the concerns we have raised in order that this opportunity to restore peace and positive governance to Somalia not be missed, and that they continue in their efforts to assist the Somali people and their leaders to find consensus on the best way forward. We look forward to the opportunity to exchange views with the IGAD member states on this and other issues. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contacts: Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 (0) 485 555 946 Jennifer Leonard (Washington) +1 202 785 1601 To contact Crisis Group media please click here Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
