Sunday, March 22, 2009

Somalia News Update: London to Boost Funds For AMISOM

London to boost funds for peacekeepers in Somalia

UNITED NATIONS - The government said Friday it would contribute an additional 10 million pounds in support of African Union peacekeepers in Somalia as the Somali foreign minister pressed the UN to lift its arms embargo.

Britain's UN Ambassador John Sawers told a Security Council meeting on Somalia that London would give the additional funds this month to the UN trust fund for the AU mission in Somalia .

This is in addition to the five million pounds that we have already given directly to the African Union for AMISOM, Sawers said. We encourage others also to contribute.

Newly-appointed Somali Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar asked the AU to deploy three additional battalions of Ugandan and Burundian troops to beef up its mission.

This needs to be undertaken immediately with improved equipment, logistics and medical facilities, he added.

AMISOM comprises Ugandan and Burundian contingents totalling around 3,400 men in Mogadishu, but has been unable to contain the violence that has raged since it was deployed in 2007.

The African Union had initially pledged 8,000 troops.

Omaar also urged the Security Council to lift its 17-year arms embargo to help Somali forces properly equip in their bid to defeat hardline Islamist fighters.

The Security Council embargo imposed in January 1992 has been constantly violated with weapons mainly coming from Yemen and financed by Eritrea as well as Arab and Islamic donors, according to a recent UN report.

Omaar hailed the integration of transitional government troops and a faction of the opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia into the Joint Security Forces following UN-brokered reconciliation talks in Djibouti last year.

If the JSF is to be equipped by the international community to partner with AMISOM and to secure peace, the embargo on the government has to be re-addressed, he added.

The JSF is not funded, resources or equipped up to now. Yet it is the essential partner of AMISOM for peacekeeping.

Meanwhile the UN special envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, hailed the progress made in the country since the signing of the Djibouti accord.

Somalia is back from the brink, he said, welcoming the fact that the president, the prime minister, the cabinet and parliament had all moved back to Mogadishu, the capital.

He pressed the world community to extend immediate support for the new authorities, financial assistance to AMISOM and transparent and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance.

The envoy also focused on the issue of rampant piracy off the Somali coast and welcomed the international naval presence to deter it as a show of solidarity with the country and the whole region.

Sawers meanwhile drew attention to Somalia's humanitarian crisis, with more than three million people in need of assistance.

The international community must continue to provide aid and support the Government in delivering basic security, employment and services, he said.

And Omaar stressed the importance of the April 22 Brussels conference, sponsored by the AU and the UN to raise funds for AMISOM and Somali security forces. Without these resources, visible and effective demonstration of the authority of the state and the rule of law will not be achieved and peace will not be secured, he noted.

Former rebel leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was elected president of the war-ravaged African state in January following the Djibouti reconciliation talks, but faces a tough task to bring peace to a country wracked by civil war since 1991.

Islamist fighters including the hardline Shebab militia have waged battles against the government and its allies since before Ahmed came to power, vowing to fight until all foreign forces withdraw and sharia law is imposed. The Somali cabinet agreed on Tuesday to introduce Islamic law, a move Ahmed said was to ensure that he who claims that he is fighting to have sharia no longer has a reason to fight.

Somalia has had no effective central authority since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre touched off a bloody cycle of clashes between rival factions.


AU Condemns Attacks on Peacekeepers in Somalia

By VOA News
19 March 2009

The African Union has condemned a roadside bomb attack in Somalia that killed one AU peacekeeper and wounded two others in the capital, Mogadishu.

In a statement Thursday, Special A.U. Representative for Somalia Nicolas Bwakira condemned the attack and said it would not derail the A.U.'s peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

Bwakira says two bombs exploded late Wednesday on a road between the airport and the K-4 Section of Mogadishu. He says the wounded peacekeepers were taken to Nairobi, Kenya for treatment.

The AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia currently consists of about 3,400 troops contributed by Uganda and Burundi.

The troops have come under frequent attack from the al-Shabab militant group.

Al-Shabab controls much of southern and central Somalia after a two-year insurgency, and has moved to impose its own strict form of Islamic law in areas under its control.

Last week, Somalia's cabinet voted to make Sharia the basis of Somalia's legal system, in an effort to appease the insurgents.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP


Security Council backs new government in Somalia

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN Security Council gave a stamp of approval Friday to Somalia's new unity government and urged increased international aid to African Union (AU) peacekeepers trying to contain the violence in the lawless country.

After a briefing by Somalia's new foreign minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar, the 15-member body adopted a non-binding statement that welcomed "the positive political developments and progress" since the UN-brokered national reconciliation talks in Djbouti last year.

These, it noted, included the election earlier this year of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist cleric, the establishment of an inclusive parliament and the subsequent formation of a unity government led by Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Shamarke.

The statement said council members "encourage the international community to extend financial and technical support to the government in its efforts towards rebuilding vital institutions, especially in the areas of security and the rule of law."

It praised "the valuable contribution" made by the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and called on the international community to provide the mission "additional resources for it to better fulfill its mandate."

Earlier, Britain's UN Ambassador John Sawers said London would give an additional 10 million pounds (14.4 million dollars) to an UN trust fund for AMISOM.

"This is in addition to the five million pounds (7.2 million dollars) that we have already given directly to the African Union for AMISOM," Sawers said. "We encourage others also to contribute."

Omaar meanwhile asked the AU to deploy three additional battalions of Ugandan and Burundian troops to beef up its mission.

"This needs to be undertaken immediately with improved equipment, logistics and medical facilities," he added.

AMISOM comprises Ugandan and Burundian contingents totaling around 3,400 men in Mogadishu, but has been unable to contain the violence that has raged since it was deployed in 2007. The AU had initially pledged 8,000 troops.

Omaar also urged the Security Council to lift its 17-year arms embargo to help Somali forces properly equip in their bid to defeat hardline Islamist fighters.

The Security Council embargo imposed in January 1992 has been constantly violated with weapons mainly coming from Yemen and financed by Eritrea as well as Arab and Islamic donors, according to a recent UN report.

Omaar hailed the integration of transitional government troops and a faction of the opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) into the Joint Security Forces (JSF) following UN-brokered reconciliation talks in Djibouti last year.

"If the JSF is to be equipped by the international community to partner with AMISOM and to secure peace, the embargo on the government has to be re-addressed," he added.

"The JSF is not funded, resources or equipped up to now. Yet it is the essential partner of AMISOM for peacekeeping."

Meanwhile the UN special envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, hailed the fact that the president, the prime minister, the cabinet and parliament had all moved back to Mogadishu, the capital. "Somalia is back from the brink," he said.

He also focused on the issue of rampant piracy off the Somali coast and welcomed the international naval presence to deter it as "a show of solidarity with the country and the whole region."

Omaar also stressed the importance of the April 22 Brussels conference, sponsored by the AU and the UN to raise funds for AMISOM and Somali security forces.

"Without these resources, visible and effective demonstration of the authority of the state and the rule of law will not be achieved and peace will not be secured," he noted.

Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was elected president of the war-ravaged African state only in January following UN-brokered reconciliation talks but faces a tough task to bring peace to a country wracked by civil war since 1991.

Islamist fighters including the hardline Shebab militia have waged battles against the government and its allies since before Ahmed came to power, vowing to fight until all foreign forces withdraw and sharia law is imposed.

Somalia has had no effective central authority since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre.

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