Nairobi - November 7, 2005 (UNPOS) – The United Nations Political Office for Somalia has condemned the ‎assassination attempt against Somali Prime Minister, Ali Mohammed Gedi on Sunday (6 November) in ‎Mogadishu.‎

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia (SRSG), Francois Lonseny Fall, called Prime ‎Minister Gedi immediately after learning of the attack and expressed relief that the PM had escaped ‎unharmed from the assault on his convoy. Ambassador Fall, who is in New York this week to brief the Security ‎Council on the situation in Somalia, also expressed his condolences to the Prime Minister and to the families ‎of those who were killed or injured in the attack.‎

Ambassador Fall’s Deputy, Mr. Babafemi Badejo said he was relieved the Prime Minister had escaped harm, ‎but saddened by the loss of life and injuries suffered by those in his entourage. “These continued acts of ‎violence are to be condemned,” he said. They are an assault on the peace process and on the hopes of the ‎Somali people for an end to 14 years of insecurity.”‎

The United Nations is leading international efforts to find a peaceful solution to differences within the Somali ‎Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs). Those differences include the location of the TFIs. President Yusuf and ‎Prime Minister Gedi have relocated to Jowhar, maintaining that Mogadishu is insecure. The Speaker of the ‎Parliament, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, some cabinet members and a number of Parliamentarians, insist that ‎Mogadishu is safe and that the Government belongs there. Ambassador Fall has urged all Cabinet Ministers to ‎enter into a dialogue that will move them closer to reconciliation.‎

The Security Council last month expressed its deep concern about the persistent state of insecurity in Somalia ‎and the absence of political dialogue. The Council also urged the international community and neighboring ‎countries to continue to support an inclusive political dialogue among the TFI leaders. ‎