UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Somalia

 PRESS RELEASE

United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS)

UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Somalia

Appeals for an End to Hostilities in Mogadishu 

Nairobi, 10 May – The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, today appealed for an end to hostilities in Mogadishu as the city entered its fourth day of violence between heavily armed militia forces.

“I am deeply disturbed by the daily reports of civilian deaths and injuries and of families fleeing for their lives,” Ambassador Fall said. “Whatever the allegiances, the intermittent conflict between heavily armed camps has resulted in indiscriminate loss of life and has created fear and chaos for those civilians trapped in the crossfire. By taking their grievances to the streets, these armed groups have effectively unleashed a war on their own people. I appeal to leaders on both sides to step back from the brink and reconsider the damage they are inflicting on the population. The indiscriminate use of heavy machine guns, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and artillery in and between urban areas is unacceptable.”

Ambassador Fall said that elsewhere in the country peaceful initiatives have given hope that Somalia can extricate itself from more than a decade of civil war.

“For the first time in 15 years, we have a parliament in session in Baidoa, just 240 kilometers from the current centre of violence,” Ambassador Fall said. “There is a tremendous hunger for peace throughout the country and it is difficult to overstate the importance of what is underway to secure it.”

Ambassador Fall also noted that  Somalia’s Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) have been working with IGAD, the African Union and the international community to develop a National Security and Stabilization Plan: “The continuing violence in Mogadishu is a reminder of the urgent need to finalize this plan. It is also a reminder of the challenges that lie ahead.  But security is first and foremost a Somali process that demands buy-in from all the key Somali parties. The international community cannot impose peace on them.”

(*) IGAD –  Intergovernmental Authority on Development, comprising Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda.

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For more information please contact: Ian Steele, UN Political Office for Somalia  (Nairobi, Kenya)  email ian.steele@unon.org

Source: UNPOS, May 10, 2006