afrol News, 3 January - As the Islamists seem totally defeated and the transitional government is in control of all Somalia, preparations for lasting peace and stability are rapidly made. The Ugandan President is set to go to Ethiopia tomorrow to plan for peacekeeping forces in Somalia and the regional bodies IGAD and AU are to discuss the same.
Today, there was yet another sign of a normalising situation in Somalia as the transitional government announced the reopening the country's airspace for both commercial and humanitarian planes. Interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi said his government had decided to regulate the Somali airspace and territorial waters in a bid to ensure peace and security in the country.
Further, according to PM Ghedi, all major battles over the control of Somalia have now been completed. Military forces from the transitional government and Ethiopia were still pursuing the remnants of Islamist militias "on the run in disarray" from the southern town of Kismayo.
Mr Ghedi in his official statement finally said that the voluntarily disarming of civilians had officially been launched as of yesterday. Efforts were "well underway to establish transitional administration in various localities to ensure peace and stability in Somalia," he said, adding that discussion with Somali clan leaders and local elders had also continued in this regard.
With the strong military support from Ethiopian armed forces, the Somali transitional government therefore is in the process of establishing the first central government in the country since 1991. Mr Ghedi and interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed have made it clear that they will not allow armed clan factions to regain power and are thus strongly emphasising on disarmament.
While Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi yesterday told the Addis Ababa parliament he was aiming at withdrawing Ethiopian forces from Somalia within two weeks to avoid further costs, he and the Somali government have also been active in preparing for other troops to take over. Somali and Ethiopian leaders pledge not to leave behind a power vacuum in Somalia to assure permanent peace and stability.
President Yusuf yesterday met with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, who also currently heads the region grouping Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD). President Kibaki is to raise the question of peacekeepers and their funding at an extraordinary IGAD summit. Also in response to yesterday's meeting, Kenya today sent extra troops to its border with Somalia to stop Islamists from escaping Somali and Ethiopian troops.
Today, the Ethiopian government announced that Uganda President Yoweri Museveni was to come on a two-day visit to Addis Ababa tomorrow "to hold discussion on Somalia's issue." Uganda, Ethiopia's main ally in the region, has already pledged to send peacekeepers to Somalia, according to Somali PM Ghedi.
Further, according to a statement by the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry, Ugandan President Museveni "also will meet Alpha Omar Konaré, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AU) and address the diplomatic corps accredited to AU" in an effort to get a quick AU approval of peacekeeping forces in Somalia. An AU approval would also facilitate the troops' financing, which so far is the main missing link in the Somali-Ethiopian plan.
With AU approval, also Nigeria has indicated its willingness to send peacekeepers to Somalia. A spokesman of the Somali government has indicated Uganda and Nigeria alone may be willing to send a total of 8,000 troops to replace the Ethiopians, something that however has not been confirmed in Abuja and Kampala.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian and Ugandan diplomacy are working on the funding of the possible African peacekeeping mission, which already was endorsed by the UN before the defeat of the Islamists. Western nations - especially the US, which has warm relations with Ethiopia and Uganda - may be willing to raise large parts of the funds needed. Washington in particular has pronounced its vital interest in a stable, non-Islamist government in Somalia.
As life normalises in post-Islamist Somalia, citizens thus put their hopes into a successful consolidation of the transitional government's country-wide power. If the government and its allies play their cards right, more than 15 years of chaos could head towards an end in Somalia.
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