Participants to a meeting of the International Contact Group on
Somalia, held at Cairo-based Arab League headquarters on Tuesday,
called on international parties to take urgent actions to help
Somalia restore law and order, Egypt's news agency MENA
reported.
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Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa, in his opening
speech, said there was an urgent need to take an immediate action
on the security challenge facing war-torn Somalia, which is a
member of the pan-Arab organization.
Moussa said the recently agreed-upon ceasefire must be
maintained, referring to Sunday's truce declaration by Somalia's
powerful Hawiye clan which said it had reached a ceasefire with
Ethiopian troops.
The AL chief said what was needed was a mechanism capable of
monitoring the ceasefire, which was rejected by Somali transitional
government.
Moussa said Somalia was facing four main challenges, which were
in relation to security, political progress, humanitarian crisis
and reconstruction. He urged the international community to offer
immediate help to restore security in Somalia, warning of a
deteriorating situation otherwise.
Political progress through national reconciliation will be
needed too, said Moussa, adding that further complications are
expected and violence will spread without political progress.
The AL chief called on Ethiopia to withdraw its troops, saying
that African Union (AU) forces will be deployed as Ethiopia pulls
out its soldiers.
Moussa also said the AL would offer US$ one million to help
rehabilitate militiamen to join governmental armed forces.
The one-day international meeting also brought together Kenya
and Norway foreign ministers, US Assistant Secretary of State for
African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, as well as representatives from
Britain, the UN, the AU, the Organization of Islamic Conference and
the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development.
The meeting focused on discussion of plans to push for
reconciliation among Somali warring parties through a national
reconciliation conference, slated for later this month.
Norwegian State Secretary Raymond Johansan, whose country chairs
the International Contact Group on Somalia, said the coming step
for Somalia would be urging the transitional government in Somalia
to hold a national reconciliation conference to be attended by all
the parties concerned.
Somalia has not had an effective national government since
1991,when warlords overthrew former ruler Mohamed Siad Barre and
then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.
The transitional government was formed in 2004 with UN help, but
has little authority across the country because it has no real army
or police force.
(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2007)
