From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Mar 09 2010 - 16:34:45 EST
Somali government would welcome US air role in push
Tue Mar 9, 2010 12:40pm GMT
By William Maclean
LONDON (Reuters) - Somalia's government would welcome U.S. air support for
an expected offensive aimed at retaking control of areas from al
Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels, President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed said on
Tuesday.
Speaking on a visit to Britain, Sheikh Sharif added that international aid
for reconstruction would be needed to secure any areas gained in the push,
expected in coming weeks in a test of attempts to restore stability in the
Horn of Africa nation.
The New York Times reported on March 5 U.S. forces could get involved by
providing airstrikes and Special forces Operations if the offensive
succeeded in dislodging al Qaeda fighters.
Asked to comment, Ahmed said: "If the U.S. government provides us with the
air support, it will help the situation."
"If that is true, as written in the New York Times, then we would welcome
it," he told a news conference through an interpreter.
It was not immediately clear whether Ahmed was referring to the possibility
of air strikes or of supporting aerial surveillance. U.S. forces are
believed to have conducted aerial reconnaissance of parts of Somalia for
several years.
FOREIGN FIGHTERS "ROAMING"
Asked whether he also saw a role for U.S. ground forces in the push, Ahmed
said: "I cannot answer that."
Any direct use of U.S. military power would be sensitive. American troops
who were part of a U.N. humanitarian mission to Somalia in 1992 and 1993
were forced to pull out after Somali militia killed several marines in an
attack on a U.S. helicopter.
Ahmed's U.N.-backed administration intends to oust the rebels from the
capital and possibly other areas of the country, which has had no effective
central government for 19 years.
His government has struggled to establish its influence, something that has
been whittled down by a three-year-old revolt against his administration,
which only controls parts of the capital.
Asked how he planned to hold any areas gained in the offensive, a critical
task to establish authority, he said: "Our strategy is to mobilise the
people, to secure the environment, to return the services and to start
reconstruction."
"Our forces have prepared well," he said, but added: "We will need
international assistance in the form of humanitarian aid and reconstruction
after the liberation of these areas."
The offensive did not close off reconciliation efforts, he said, but he
described al Shabaab as having a direct tie to al Qaeda and said both groups
cooperated with Somalia's pirates.
The government says hundreds of foreign fighters have joined the revolt from
countries in south Asia and the Gulf region and Western nations such as the
United States and Britain.
Ahmed said it was hard to tell put a number on al Qaeda fighters in Somalia.
"But it's also hard to exaggerate the presence of al Qaeda. It can be seen
openly by people inside Somalia -- foreign fighters who are roaming," he
said.
"The announcements by al Shabaab and al Qaeda make clear their presence in
force. Recent events in Yemen are also a clear indication of the presence of
al Qaeda in the area".
He denied reports that Somalis in nearby countries were being recruited to
join the offensive, explaining there were plenty of Somalis in Somalia who
wanted to serve in the army.
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
Darfur peace talks to begin on Wednesday
Tue Mar 9, 2010 3:40pm GMT
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Direct peace talks between Darfur's main insurgent
group and Khartoum will begin in Qatar on March 10 after months of clashes
and potracted negotiations, the rebel Justice and Equality Movement said.
But the JEM said April's legislative and presidential elections should be
postponed so the group and the millions suffering in Darfur from a
seven-year rebellion could participate.
"If the political will and decision is there we can reach an agreement as
quickly as possible," al-Tahir al-Faki, a senior JEM figure, told Reuters on
Tuesday.
But the group would not negotiate if there were parallel talks with other
rebel groups, unless they united under the JEM.
Al-Feki said direct talks would begin with Khartoum's delegation in Qatar on
Wednesday to flesh out last month's ceasefire declaration between the two
sides.
"There are so many issues regarding the ceasefire which need to be discussed
-- numbers of troops, repositioning, redeployment," he said.
But he said Sudan's army, which on Monday declared it had taken control of
the Jabel Marra region long controlled by a separate rebel group, had
already broken the ceasefire.
"The ceasefire agreement which we signed was in all of Darfur, not just in
areas under the control of JEM," he said.
On clashes in Jabel Marra between the government and the rebel Sudan
Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur which refuses to join
the Qatar peace process, he said: "We see this as an abrogration of the
framework agreement."
The International Criminal Court last year issued an arrest warrant for
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes in Darfur, where the United
Nations estimates 300,000 have died in one of the world's worst humanitarian
crises.
Bashir hopes a victory in April's presidential election will legitimise his
government in defiance of the warrant.
But the JEM's al-Faki said elections could not be free and fair with Darfur
still under emergency law and Bashir in control of state finances and media.
"There are no conditions for free and fair elections in Sudan," he said.
He said a March 15 deadline to reach a comprehensive peace deal was not set
in stone.
"We think it is going to be a very tough negotiation and don't expect it to
conclude by March 15," he said.
Sudan's government delegation was not immediately available to comment.
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
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