From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Oct 05 2009 - 09:19:48 EDT
INTERVIEW-Somalia cannot defeat insurgents alone-minister
Mon Oct 5, 2009 8:00am GMT
* Rejects accusations he aids insurgents
* Pledges crack down on corruption
By Abdiaziz Hassan
NAIROBI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Somalia's government will not be able to defeat
al Qaeda-linked militants jeopardising peace because the Horn of Africa
nation's forces are too weak and African peacekeepers have a defensive
mandate, a minister said.
Al Shabaab rebels, who Washington say are al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia, have
waged a two-and-a-half year insurgency against the fragile government in a
quest to impose their own harsh version of sharia law throughout the
anarchic country.
"Somalis alone are not capable of confronting these groups. We need
international assistance to strengthen our security forces to prepare them
to do most of the job," Interior Minister Abdulkadir Ali Omar told Reuters
in an interview.
Omar was deputy chairman of the Islamic Courts Union that briefly ran
Mogadishu in 2006. His moderate Islamist militia has now been integrated
with government security forces.
Fighting since the start of 2007 has killed some 19,000 civilians, uprooted
1.5 million from their homes and confined the government to a few blocks of
the capital, with an African Union force (AMISOM) protecting key sites.
AMISOM has been targeted by insurgents with suicide attacks, but quibbles
over its mandate have prevented the 5,000 troops from Uganda and Burundi
going on any major offensive.
"Amendments of AMISOM rules of engagement are important, so that they can
play more active role in the country," said Omar.
He appealed to international donors to fulfil commitments of financial
support so the government could defeat the rebels and tackle the
humanitarian disaster in the country.
"We would like to see more practical support from the international
community and that aid has to be more than words."
COMMITTED TO GOVERNMENT
Some international donors have proved reticent about handing over pledges to
the government on the grounds that corrupt officials could divert money
meant for the security forces.
Somalia has had no strong central government since 1991 and the
administration's main sources of revenue are Mogadishu's air and sea ports.
"We are really working on how best we can utilise the local revenue and find
a solution for corruption in both central and local institutions," Omar
said.
"We have established a committee playing the role of an anti-corruption body
that can question anyone misusing state funds," said the minister, during
his first trip to neighbouring countries since he was appointed in February.
The United States has also sent weapons to the government, but there are
reports some of the munitions are on sale in Mogadishu's arms market, and
end up with insurgents.
Omar and his forces have also been accused of passing information and
weapons to the rebels -- and were blamed for the kidnapping of two French
security agents this year.
"I have been working on peace in Somalia for the last 10 years. That was a
personal initiative to save my own people from brutal gangs that used to
kidnap and rob properties," he said.
"I volunteered my time, put all my efforts into a peaceful Somalia. So how I
can be a security danger to my own country?"
But Omar said he was not surprised by the allegations, saying they were lies
fabricated by rivals who were convinced leaders in Somalia could not play
two roles at one time.
"There is a clear choice there ... you are either a government member, or an
insurgent," he said. "Offering information to insurgents to target us is
committing suicide." (Editing by David Clarke)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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