UN council fails to agree on plea to end Somali war

[Jacpher]

UN council fails to agree on plea to end Somali war

 

 

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 26 (Reuters) - A U.N. envoy urged the Security Council on Tuesday to call for an immediate halt in the fighting in Somalia or risk a broader conflict and greater instability in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation.

 

Failure to reach a political settlement through a resumption of talks between Somali Islamists and interim government forces "would be disastrous for the long-suffering people of Somalia and could also have serious consequences for the entire region," said Francois Lonseny Fall of Guinea, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy for Somalia.

 

But the 15-nation council was unable to reach agreement on such an appeal after Qatar, its sole Arab member, insisted the statement also call for the immediate withdrawal of Ethiopian forces -- as well as all other foreign forces -- from Somalia.

The other council members backed a statement calling instead only for "unauthorized" forces to pull out, a phrase they argued would not apply to Ethiopian troops which were there at the invitation of the interim government.

 

After more than three hours of negotiations, diplomats said the council was split 14 to one on the matter and suspended their efforts until Wednesday afternoon.

 

In the meantime, the Arab League, the African Union and the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, which brokered the installation of Somalia's shaky transitional government in 2004, were due to meet in Addis Ababa on Wednesday to discuss the situation, Fall said.

 

A British diplomat involved in the talks, speaking on condition he not be identified by name, said the Qatari approach was flawed as it "put the cart before the horse."

 

The approach favored by the other 14 council members would first call for a cease-fire, followed by a resumption of peace talks between the Islamists and the government, in hopes of ultimately reaching a deal creating the necessary conditions for a withdrawal of all foreign forces, this diplomat said.

 

 

GOVERNMENT SAYS ETHIOPIA 'ACTING LEGALLY'

 

The Qatari approach also risked backfiring as the Ethiopians were likely to ignore a plea to withdraw for now, this diplomat said.

Somalia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Idd Beddel Mohamed, defended the Ethiopian intervention, saying Addis Ababa had sent troops "at the invitation of the transitional federal government, and is acting legally under international law."

 

Mohamed said he had privately assured council members that his government was committed to a resumption of talks with the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in hopes of national reconciliation.

 

The council split as Ethiopia said it was halfway to crushing the Islamists with its forces advancing on Mogadishu, the Somali capital and ICU stronghold, after a week of war.

 

Somalia's envoy to Addis Ababa said Ethiopian troops were within 40 miles (70 km) of Mogadishu and could capture it in 24 to 48 hours.

 

Fall said there were reports of government forces marching toward Mogadishu from two directions. "However, they are still facing stiff resistance from the Union of Islamic Courts militias and their allies in several areas," he said.

 

He said the fighting was spreading rapidly across areas previously held by the ICU, with forces loyal to the interim government taking control of, or advancing on, many towns outside their stronghold of Baidoa.

 

Some 35,000 Somali refugees had already already fled to neighboring Kenya to avoid the fighting, and young men fleeing Mogadishu had told aid groups that children were being forcibly recruited as soldiers, Fall said.

 

The fighting had also undermined efforts to aid 2 million people in south-central Somalia affected either by war or by earlier heavy flooding in the area, he said. All international aid workers had been evacuated from the area, Fall said.

 

U.N. agencies and relief groups would try to resume aid deliveries using local personnel but could do so only to the extent they could gain access to the affected areas and carry out their work in safety, he said.

 

Source

 

[Somali_Friend]

Originally posted by Jimcaale:

In the meantime, the Arab League, the African Union and the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, which brokered the installation of Somalia's shaky transitional government in 2004, were due to meet in Addis Ababa on Wednesday to discuss the situation, Fall said.

The Arab League coming to Addis Ababa. lol

Djibuti and Sudan must have reconciled with TFG with Yemen help for that to happen.