Aug 2 (Xinhua) – African ministers ended a day-long meeting in Nairobi late Tuesday calling for constructive dialogue between Somalia’s transitional federal government and the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC) to resolve the crisis which has plagued the lawless nation.
In a communique issued at the end of the meeting, the foreign ministers of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) members also called for maximum restraint of regional countries to ensure that their actions do not jeopardize the peace process.
“The ministers noted that the situation (in Somalia) calls for urgent IGAD political and security intervention in order to safeguard the gains made in the Somalia peace process,” the ministers said.
They stressed the importance of wider diplomacy in dealing with the crisis in the Horn of African nation, which has not had a functioning government since Muhammad Siad Barre’s regime was toppled in 1991.
“The (IGAD) Council of Ministers warns all internal forces in Somalia not to engage in any actions that threatens the security and stability of the neighboring countries,” the communique said.
The ministers also mandated Kenya, which chairs the regional bloc, to lead a high-level delegation to the UN Security Council and major capitals of the Security Council member states to advocate a unified international approach to the crisis in Somalia.
However, the African ministers did not indicate when it would send a peace support mission to the lawless nation but urged Chiefs of Defense Staff of IGAD to meet as soon as possible and work jointly with the African Union to prepare detailed revised operational mission plan in line with Somalia’s security plan.
The transitional federal government, based in Baidoa, northwest of the capital Mogadishu, favors a quick deployment of an African peacekeeping force to help it establish its authority in the country.
However, the Islamic Courts, which now controls Mogadishu and a number of other areas in the south, has expressed strong opposition to the deployment of foreign troops in Somalia.
The transitional government was created in Kenya in 2004 following lengthy reconciliation talks hosted by the IGAD, which comprises Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.
Source: Xinhua, Aug 2, 2006
