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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Oct 22 2010 - 17:52:56 EDT
World Will Pay Higher Price If It Does Not Help Somalia Now
By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer
22 October 2010
Washington - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie
Carson says more countries need to contribute troops and assets to the
African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and other security and
humanitarian efforts in the country, saying it "is in no one's interest" to
step back and allow Somalis to simply fight among themselves.
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington, Carson said, "Refugee flows, pirate attacks and terrorist
threats will continue to increase unless we work with Somalia to deal with
these issues."
So far, the international community's response to Somalia's internal crisis
has been "too feeble, too slow and too uncoordinated to have the desired
impact," and as a result "the world is paying the consequences today as the
humanitarian and security threats continue to emerge" and stands to pay an
even higher price "in terms of regional destabilization, piracy and
terrorism" if the status quo in Somalia does not change.
The international community will have to do more, including contributions to
AMISOM, Carson said.
"Thus far, only Uganda and Burundi have provided troops for this African-led
mission. More African countries and perhaps some moderate Arab and Islamic
countries should consider troop contributions," he said.
"AMISOM forces are putting themselves on the line and playing a part in the
solution not just to a national, a regional, but a global crisis. And
therefore, countries around the world, from Europe to Asia, need to provide
increased military equipment and financial assistance" to support AMISOM and
Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), he said. New or surplus
military equipment "would go a long way in assisting current and future
AMISOM deployments."
Carson urged the Arab League to fulfill its commitment to provide the TFG
with $10 million per month in unrestricted budgetary support. He noted that
Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia have suffered from the Red Sea piracy that has
emanated from Somalia.
He also called for additional financial support to help Somalia's neighbors
arrest, prosecute and incarcerate individuals found guilty of piracy, which
he said "would send a strong message of deterrence for those who attempt
those kinds of actions."
The Obama administration is supporting stabilization efforts in Somalia
through its own support to AMISOM and the TFG, Carson said. Since 2007, the
United States has obligated $229 million in financial assistance to AMISOM
and $35 million to help the TFG establish an effective, broad-based national
security force, and it has given more than $180 million in humanitarian aid
and $60 million in development assistance to the country since 2009.
"The United States intends to remain engaged in the effort to find a
long-term solution. Together with our regional and international partners,
we will pursue policies that promote stability and security, economic
recovery and development, and the improvement in the country's humanitarian
situation," Carson said.
U.S. INCREASING PARTNERSHIPS WITH REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS
The assistant secretary said the United States plans to increase its
partnerships with the regional governments of Somaliland and Puntland, as
well as other local authorities in south-central Somalia that are opposed to
the extremist insurgent group al-Shabaab but are not allied with the TFG in
Mogadishu.
"We think they, too, deserve and warrant support," he said. But in assisting
those areas, the United States is "not in any way attempting to go around
what is in fact the principles of the AU, which is to recognize only a
single Somali state."
"Our relationship will be to provide development assistance in small ways
that will help those governments to improve their economic development," he
said, such as supporting microfinance and water projects.
By increasing its support to Somaliland and Puntland, the Obama
administration recognizes the progress and relative stability in those areas
"as well as the business, clan and marriage-based interconnections among
Somali regions and the degree to which stability in one region can
potentially contribute to stability in other parts of the country," Carson
said.
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