From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Jun 23 2010 - 09:08:51 EDT
Political reconciliation and basic security the priorities for Somalia, new
UN envoy says
http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/2008/somalia_map.gif
23 June 2010 - Encouraging reconciliation between warring political groups
and boosting basic public security are critical to stabilizing Somalia, the
incoming United Nations envoy to the troubled Horn of Africa country said
today.
Augustine Mahiga, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and the
head of the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), told UN Radio that
promoting reconciliation and a more inclusive political process must be a
priority in a country that has not had a functioning national government in
two decades.
"But this is predicated upon the existence of a modicum of security in
Somalia to enable this Transitional [Federal] Government or a government
that brings in other political groupings to survive," he said.
"So I would say the two go together - political stability as a result of a
process of reconciliation and inclusiveness, but also a security adequate to
permit the government to reach out to the population and perform the
functions of a government such as providing humanitarian aid and
implementing some basic reconstruction activities and, at some point, to
engage in economic and social development projects."
Mr. Mahiga, the former Tanzanian ambassador to the UN, succeeds Ahmedou
Ould-Abdallah as the top UN official for Somalia, the scene of one of the
worst humanitarian crises in the world, with large sections of the
population displaced and fighting continuing between Government forces and
Islamist rebels.
Responding to a question, he said it was "far-fetched cynicism" to suggest
that there will never be peace in Somalia.
"The underlying thing is that any conflict to be durably resolved has to
pursue a peaceful path and I think this is how even the most protracted and
complex conflicts in the world have at the end of the day been resolved
peacefully - peaceful resolution in an inclusive way rather than through
violence."
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