We Must Sort Out Somalia Conflict Or Withdraw: UN Envoy

By BARBARA AMONG

Nairobi, Dec 23, 2007 – The top United Nations envoy to Somalia has urged the international community to draw up a road map towards lasting peace and stability in the country, Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991.

"The situation in Somalia is dangerous and becoming more so each day," Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah special representative of the Secretary-General told the UN Security Council last week.

His briefing follows recent meetings with President Abdillahi Yusuf, the newly appointed Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Nur Hassan Hussein Adde and members of Somalia’s opposition.

The call however comes just a month after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon ruled out deploying peacekeepers to Somalia. Only two out of the required eight battalions are deployed in Somalia as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).

Uganda has sent 1,600 soldiers to Somalia as part of the planned 8,000-strong AU peacekeeping mission. Ghana, Nigeria and Burundi were among the African countries that pledged to send peacekeeping troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia, but have so far not delivered on their promises.

In the absence of a strong peace-enforcement contingent, Somalia remains a lawless state and in dire humanitarian situation.

Despite 13 peace agreements over the past 17 years, the complexity of the Somali conflict continues to increase and innocent civilians continue to die, Mr Ould-Abdallah said. The humanitarian bodies points that a recent upsurge in violence in Mogadishu has forced the internal displacement of about one million people and caused some three million to flee the country as refugees.

While immediate and effective political and security initiatives of by United Nations would not be "a magic recipe for peace", they could help Somalia end its intractable 17-year-old conflict, said Mr Ould-Abdallah.

The UN Special Representative noted there is little reason to believe the situation will change if the international community continues with its current course of action, stating that there are "serious consequences for Somalia, the region and probably the world if the conflict is not addressed and a definitive, lasting solution agreed on."

In his presentation to the Council, Mr Ould-Abdallah put forward three possible approaches for the Council's consideration, the first of which is continuing with the status quo, or "business as usual." In that context, he pointed out that efforts exerted over the past 17 years have failed to restore stability and that national reconciliation and peace remain elusive.

"The international community's 'wait and see' attitude will only postpone the day of reckoning and will not provide meaningful progress towards lasting peace," Mr Ould-Abdallah cautioned.

The second option would be an organized withdrawal of the international community from Somalia, "in effect accepting its inability to protect the population or to bring about a lasting peace," he said, noting that a withdrawal would provide "an alternative to the costly, continued engagement in Somalia" that has yet to bear fruit.

"However, the country would be crippled still further by the withdrawal as more groups or clans would appear and the resulting fighting could create a humanitarian catastrophe," Mr Ould-Abdallah warned, adding that the withdrawal could create "an even more serious power vacuum."

The Special Representative said a third possible solution would be immediate and effective action on the political and security fronts, with the objective of forming a government that can support itself and administer the country effectively. "This is not a magic recipe for peace but could help Somalia move in the right direction."

On the political front, he suggested that President Abdillahi’s transitional government take steps to strengthen its ranks and reach out to the opposition. He also cited the need for meetings between the Transitional Federal Government and the opposition to prepare the ground for further higher level meetings, emphasizing that, "The opposition should be part of the political process and assume its responsibilities."

Along with the political action, Mr Ould-Abdallah called for strengthening the Amisom contingent deployed in the country, including the deployment of "an extra capacity" to stabilize the East African nation.

The UN official stressed that the time has come for the international community to commit itself to a clear course of action, noting that if the current situation continues, the consequences will be "catastrophic" for peace in the region, for the credibility of the UN and, most of all, for the Somalis themselves.

Expressing his support for the third – and what he believed to be the only – option, Somalia's representative urged the Council to quickly devise a plan to move ahead in the political and security spheres, noting that many Somalis have wondered why it is so easy for the 15-member body to move speedily in other parts of the world where there is conflict.

Source: The East African