UN Warns Against Increased Number Of Islamists In Somalia
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UNITED NATIONS, Nov 9 (KUNA) -- UN Special Representative for Somalia Francois Lonseny Fall on Wednesday warned that the increased number of Islamist groups in Somalia constitutes a "threat" to the country and the region.
Fall told a press conference that he warned the Security Council during a briefing on the situation in the country earlier in the day against "the risk of extremist groups who are growing not only in Mogadishu but also in the rest of the territory....This is a reality not only for Somalia but also for all the region".
"We have some Islamist groups, mainly, which are growing in Somalia and we have some who are trying to establish the Shariaa Court in Somalia. This is a real threat for Somalia today," he added. He said the council discussed today the problem of piracy and everybody agreed that the council should take some action to eradicate this new activity of the war lords.
He said he could not confirm that there is a link between the pirates and the Islamic groups.
However, "it would be very interesting to open an investigation into the financing of the Islamist groups to find out where they get their money from," he suggested.
Responding to the Somali ambassador who called on Tuesday for a partial lifting of the arms embargo on Somalia to allow the year-old government to fight the warlords, Fall said Somalia needs to have a national police first, adding that the international community is now helping to form.
If the Somali problem is not solved, he warned, the country would become a "threat to international peace and security".
"Because when you have a failed state like Somalia, it gives opportunity to all the terrorist groups to grow. It happened in Afghanistan and the same thing can happen in Somalia," he said.
On Somaliland, which proclaimed its independence over a decade ago, he said all council resolutions reiterate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Somalia as one country.
"People are not focusing on Somaliland. The main problem today is first to pacify the rest of Somalia. Once we get Somalia pacified, then we will talk about the form of relationship to establish between Somalia and Somaliland.
For the international community there is one Somalia," he stressed. "The international community is following seriously what is happening in Somaliland but there is no recognition of it," he said.