During his three day
visit, Foreign Minister Seyoum had discussions with some 60 Somali elders
and religious leaders. He assured the elders of Ethiopia’s support in their
quest for a durable peace and stable government. In an exchange of views,
participants made it clear their problems were mainly internal and
emphasized their need for help in maintaining peace and facilitating
dialogue among all parties. The Minister said Somalis had to unite to
promote the cause of peace and then “you will win it. Others can help but
they cannot replace you”. He called on all Somalis to engage in the
national reconciliation process, and told the delegates “You cannot ride
two horses at a time: you cannot be in favor of peace and war at the same
time.” He said that Ethiopia has been telling the TFG that it must treat
all Somalis equally. Ethiopia’s vision, he said, was for a durable peace in
Somalia, stability and the ascendance of the rule of law. Minister Seyoum
emphasized that Ethiopia would not abandon Somalis in mid-stream; it will
withdraw its troops but not until the AU is deployed in order to prevent
any political vacuum. In a subsequent press conference, Minister Seyoum
said Ethiopian troops would not be pulled out of Somalia until it was clear
that their military presence was no longer needed. The minister said that
many Somalis had asked Ethiopia not to leave Somalia while it was still
vulnerable, and he added that Ethiopia was determined to make sure that
terrorists did not return to traumatize the population. Ethiopia, he said,
needed to be certain that terrorist elements would not disturb either the
Somali government or the Somali population.
This week, the Mayor of
Mogadishu, Mohammed Dheere, announced that the police were taking over from
Somali military forces in Mogadishu. Speaking about security, he said that
already 16 police stations has been opened, one in each of Mogadishu’s 16
districts, a thousand police had been deployed, and neighborhoods were
organizing their own militias to take responsibility for lawlessness and
crime in their own localities. Residents, he said, had started cleaning up
the piles of rubbish and debris on the streets, refuse that had even been
used by extremists on the run. The Mayor said the private sector,
particularly banks and communication companies, would act as the engine to
restart the economy. The Mayor said any resurgence of terrorism was
unlikely because 99% of terrorist capacity had been destroyed, though
incidents including assassinations and roadside bombings, did still occur.
Ethiopia's ambassador to
Britain, Berhanu Kebede, has sent a letter to British members of parliament
updating them on recent developments in Somalia clarifying the rationale
for Ethiopia's intervention and its limited military presence there.
Ambassador Berhanu said Ethiopia intervened in Somalia at the invitation of
the TFG to deal with extremist elements within the UIC which had been
launching attacks on Ethiopia from safe havens in Somalia. Ethiopia’s
involvement was a matter of self-defense. The vast majority of Ethiopian
troops, he said, had already pulled out though some contingents still
remained in Mogadishu where they had recently been engaged in the fighting
against remnants of the terrorist groups alongside the TFG security forces.
The fighting in April concentrated in two of the sixteen zones of the city
where the Ayr sub-clan militia operated and insurgents had entrenched
themselves. The Ambassador said Ethiopian forces carried out all operations
in a carefully targeted and disciplined manner and took extreme care to
avoid civilian casualties.
We were not always
successful because of the indiscriminate shelling by insurgents aimed to
put blame on TFG and Ethiopian forces. Although some remnants of the
Mudjadeen and al-Shebaab extremists were still at large, the Ambassador
stressed that organized military opposition had now been defeated. The
situation on the ground, he pointed out, is now conducive for the
deployment of AMISOM. Disarmament of clan militias, which will facilitate
their decommissioning and demobilization, is now in progress. The
international community, he said, should help boost peace efforts by
expediting the deployment of more AU troops. The withdrawal of Ethiopian
troops, of course, hinges on full deployment of AMISOM forces; both the AU
and the US have warned Ethiopia not to leave prematurely. Ambassador
Berhanu cited lack of resources as a major constraint and urged the release
of EU funds for AMISOM. He called on the international community to assist
with the immediate and full deployment of AMISOM, with resource allocation
for the National Reconciliation Congress, and with provision of
humanitarian aid.
On Monday, the Somali
parliament approved the plans for the National Reconciliation Congress, by
151 to 9 votes. Prime Minister Gedi told the MPs that the aim of the
Congress was to end differences between clans going back 16 years. The main
work of the congress will be to work on the federal charter (originally
agreed at Mbagathi in 2004), and on the policy of the government. Funding
still remains a problem. On Wednesday, Hawiye elders in Mogadishu issued a
statement condemning continuing killings and bombings as ‘meaningless and
inhuman’. A spokesman said this was a time for peace and stability and to
work for reconciliation. He appealed to the population of Mogadishu to help
minimize the level of insecurity; those responsible, he said, must stop, in
the name of Allah.
Two point two billion
dollars is the figure the UN is putting on rehabilitation for Somalia. This
is what the UN Humanitarian Coordination Office for Somalia is proposing
for a five year program. This week, 60 civil society leaders and
representatives of non-governmental organizations based in Somalia met in
Kampala, Uganda, to draw up specific strategies to move the humanitarian
situation into 'one of recovery, reconstruction and development' .The
program is aimed to increase student enrollment from 25% to 40%; train 300
judges and 10,000 police officers, and improve water supplies to 1.2
million people in both urban and rural areas. The program also aims to
raise crop yields by 50% and improve basic infrastructure Funds will be
allocated to promote good governance and sustainable peace ($462 million
dollars), and another $666 million dollars for improved social services.
The remainder will go on producing a sustainable environment for poverty
reduction. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Somalia, Eric Laroche, said
this was the first time a conference had been convened which reflected the
needs of the Somali people and had the institutional support of the UN, the
World Bank and donor countries; these will be expected to raise the
necessary funds.