Somalia 
UN pessimistic on Somali peace efforts

afrol News, 2 July - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expresses concern over the failed peace effort in Somalia. In a report to the Security Council on Monday, he noted that the regional peace effort for Somalia was currently at an impasse because of differences on how to proceed with national reconciliation.

Annan however urged the various sides in Somalia not to let their differences prevent the attainment of a peace settlement. "Such differences will only complicate the already difficult task of peacemaking," the Secretary-General said in his report. 

He said the contending Somali groups and leaders were at risk of adopting "inflexible positions on national reconciliation so as to safeguard their interests and weaken the influence of those Somalis who want an end to violence and the restoration of peace in the country."

Annan further lamented that a national reconciliation conference, due be held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in April, had not yet gone ahead. "The environment of apparent suspicion, both among regional countries and inside Somalia, needs to be defused urgently if a productive conference is to take place," the UN leader stressed.

He therefore called for "consensus and coherence" among the three frontline states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) which is trying to broker a peace settlement. This was "essential for the IGAD effort in support of national reconciliation in Somalia to succeed," he observed. 

The three countries bordering with Somalia - Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya - have been trying to lay the groundwork for the conference, but disagreements between them have so far prevented this. It was also "clear that the IGAD frontline states and other neighbouring countries, as well as donors, must use their influence to encourage the Somali parties to take positive and reconciliatory steps towards establishing peace and security in their country," Annan added.

Meanwhile, the country had witnessed an escalation of violence in recent months, costing many civilian lives and resulting in a worsening of the humanitarian crisis, the Secretary-General wrote. 

Given this worsening situation in the country, he urged Somali leaders to refrain from military action and to make every effort to participate constructively in the peace process. "It is the duty of leaders to lead, not to pursue narrow partisan advantage," Annan concluded. 

Also the Mogadishu-based so-called Transitional National Government of Somalia seems to have given up the peace efforts. Earlier this week, a government spokesman had called for the deployment of foreign troops to disarm and demobilise armed militias. "Somalia" was "asking for the same kind of assistance" earlier given to countries like Sierra Leone and Bosnia, the spokesman said. 

Sources: Based on UN sources and afrol archives

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