From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Jun 04 2009 - 05:29:04 EDT
Somalia:Somali PM seeks urgent world intervention
04/06/2009
NAIROBI (Mareeg)-- The Somali transitional government on Wednesday sought an
urgent international community intervention in the war-torn Horn of Africa
nation to enable the fledgling government flush out insurgents in the
country.
Speaking in Nairobi, Somali Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Sharmake also
called on the Somalia's neighbors to urgently enforce its resolutions
reached in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last month by imposing a blockade on
airstrips and seaports to prevent Islamists from getting weapons and
fighters.
Sharmake said a recent upsurge in fighting in his country which had killed
hundreds of people and forced thousands from their homes has been sparked by
an influx of foreign armed aggressors who have invaded Somalia.
"We want the IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority on Development) and the
Africa Union to protect Somalia by imposing sanctions and a blockade on
airstrips and seaports that are being used by Al-Shabaab to launch their
attacks in Somalia," Sharmake told journalists after holding a meeting with
Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetang'ula in Nairobi.
"We hope to see the IGAD enforcing its resolutions reached last month in
Ethiopia and which were also endorsed by the AU for UN Security Council to
adopt. There is a lot of inflow of foreign fighters in Somalia," he said.
The Somali PM whose UN-backed administration has come under increasingly
attack from members of the Al-Shabaab militia expressed optimism that
normalcy would soon be restored in the Horn of Africa nation.
"We hope to see peace prevail in Somalia in the coming weeks. We are gaining
ground if what happened last night (Tuesday) is anything to go by and very
soon hope to capture entire Mogadishu and areas which were taken over by
Al-Shabaab," Sharmake said.
During its emergency meeting of last month, the six-nation regional
mediating body, the IGAD also called for sanctions to be imposed on Eritrea,
which denies charges it arms Islamist forces.
Speaking during the meeting, Wetang'ula said the Islamist-controlled ports
of Kismayo and Merca should be subject to a blockade "to prevent the further
in-flow of arms and foreign fighters."
The Kenyan minister also wants flights halted to the numerous air strips
under Islamist control.
He said IGAD will dispatch its team to New York next week to seek audience
with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over the proposed sanctions on
Somalia militia and Eritrea.
The minister also criticized the conduct of Eritrean government, accusing
Asmara of aiding the aggression in the Horn of Africa nation. Eritrea
withdrew its membership from IGAD and could now be barred from the African
Union.
"We have voiced our concern to the Prime Minister that the continuing
instability in our neighborhood is a threat to our economy ... is a threat
to the economy of the Horn of Africa region. We will definitely take the
option of taking all available steps to protect our strategic interests
within the region," Wetang'ula said.
"We have strengthened our security along our borders with Somalia. We have
overflowing refugees from Somalia and we want to see that in the very near
future bring together, with all players, normalcy to Somalia ... to have the
people of Somalia who have never seen peace and security for the last 19
years to go back to normalcy."
Somalia has been subject to a UN arms embargo for many years but weapons are
still freely available in the Mogadishu weapons market.
The world body withdrew a previous mission in 1995, and Security Council
ambassadors have since declined several requests to return the peacekeepers,
saying there is no peace to keep in the lawless Horn of Africa nation.
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