European Diplomat Somalia Will be an Islamic State

[Shiikh_Yaasiin33]

Alternate Radio

 

US PEACEKEEPING PLAN 'RISKS CIVIL WAR' IN SOMALIA

 

Xan Rice, East Africa correspondent

Monday December 4, 2006

Guardian Unlimited- UK

 

The US will today attempt to push through a UN security council resolution to allow African peacekeepers into Somalia, despite fears by regional analysts and European diplomats that it could push the country closer to war.

 

Washington was alone in tabling the proposal at the UN last week, after failing to convince the UK to act as a co-sponsor. The proposed peacekeeping mission would provide security to the fragile Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which has no army and controls no territory outside its temporary capital in Baidoa.

 

But European diplomats fear that the Islamic courts, which control much of south-central Somalia, will see such a resolution as direct provocation, and that it could jeopardise future peace talks.

Most analysts believe that the country is already on the verge of a war that will pitch Ethiopia, which has sent several thousand troops into Somalia to support the government - with the full consent to the US, according to sources - against fighters allied to the courts.

 

The original resolution drafted by the US called for the deployment of troops from the seven-nation Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) - a regional body for east Africa - and a partial lifting of the arms embargo. But Britain and other EU countries, which are reluctant to support any large peacekeeping mission, said they would only consider the idea if neighbouring states, most notably Ethiopia, were excluded from the force.

 

The amended text circulated by the US, to be discussed at an "experts meeting" at the UN today, includes the provision that "those states that border Somalia would not deploy troops". One European diplomat in Nairobi said the climbdown by the US, which accuses the courts of strong terror links, was a positive move.

 

But he said fears of an "Iraq-style" quagmire had not gone away, and warned that the courts would view any foreign troop deployment - even if it excluded Ethiopia - as a threat to their existence.

 

"This idea could have serious unintended consequences," he said.

 

If the resolution is passed, it is unclear who would fund the mission and where the peacekeeping troops would come from. Uganda and Sudan seem the only realistic candidates, and both are thought to be unenthusiastic about the idea.

 

A spokesman for the TFG said on Saturday that the government backed the US proposal, but support in Baidoa is not universal. Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, the speaker of parliament, is against deployment, and has the support of as many as 100 of the 275 MPs.

 

The courts have repeatedly rejected any talk of foreign troops trying to stabilise Somalia and are demanding the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops. While they continue to take more territory, they have expressed a willingness to resume talks on power sharing. At the weekend, senior members of the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SICC, previously known as the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia) - the courts' governing body - met the IGAD secretariat in Djibouti, and committed to dialogue with the government.

 

Another European diplomat, again requesting anonymity, said that the international community should be focusing on engaging the courts and encouraging talks with the government rather than sending in troops. "Somalia will be an Islamic state - we are already too late to stop that happening," the diplomat said. "We need to be talking to the Islamists, not provoking them."

[Jabhad]

^Thanks for sharing it brother..Very good article.

[Taliban]

Good article.

[Abu-Salman]

Another European diplomat, again requesting anonymity, said that the international community should be focusing on engaging the courts and encouraging talks with the government rather than sending in troops. "Somalia will be an Islamic state - we are already too late to stop that happening," the diplomat said. "We need to be talking to the Islamists, not provoking them."

 

 

Even now that former colonists and crusaders realize such basic truths, most ironically, a handful of hardcore tribal extremists/secularists, defeated Warlords and Somali Christians plot along Addis-Abeba for the highly improbable Aids-infected IGADSOM undisciplined militias on which both IGAD members and TFG institutions are deeply split over!

 

Nin noolow maxaa aragti kuu laaban...

[Peacenow]

You know what, i actually think you are right.

And then 10 years down the line, when people have woken up from the new Taliban gangsters who rule them, we will have blind people like you calling for a different system.

 

Of all the 'muslim' countries only Malaysia has got it right. While the others have failed. The ICU will fail too.

[me]

Just google or look at youtube what foreign troops have done in our country in the 90's.

 

What the Canadians have done

What the Belgians have done

What the Americans have done

What the Italians have done

What the French have done

 

Just google or look at youtube, for the killings, torture and rape.

 

Foreign troops are not welcome in Somalia. especially not Ethiopians our enemy. those that support foreign troops now should think now before its too late. once the raping, killings and torture starts, we know who they are and we know who invited the foreign troops. They will be held accountable.

[RedSea]

^mr.me,I like that,I think Naxar Nugaaleed would like to know that after he said,they were there to help us.

[Wisdom_Seeker]

naxar is ******* *********. What he utters can never be taken seriously.

_________________

 

Aflagaadada jooji, baliis.

 

[ December 06, 2006, 12:50 AM: Message edited by: Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar ]