Thursday, July 10, 2008

Somali Prime Minister Need Peace to get Aid from EU Donors!!

The Somali prime minister called on all sides of the current conflicts in the region to show a courteous regard for the recent peace agreement as he insisted that peace was possible even though there were long years of civil unrest and continued war in the east African nation.  Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein told reporters in The Hague after meeting Dutch aid minister Bert Koenders, "After 18 years of difficulties and problems, today there is a new hope that peace and stability may again reign in Somalia."
 
Furthermore, Prime minister Hussein appealed to all Somalis to back the peace agreement agreed on June 9 at UN-mediated talks in Djibouti where members of the Somali Re-liberation Army and TFG representatives signed the deal.  Later the the military wing of the ARS have rejected the deal citing unfair provisions hidden in the terms of the peace deal.

Peace was possible "if the government, the traditional leaders, the religious leaders, the diaspora play their role," said Prime minister Hussein.

Last June's deal gave both sides one month to implement a cessation of hostilities but it was opposed by the military wing of the ARS fighters who have continued their struggle, insisting on an Ethiopian troops withdrawal as a precondition to talks and to ceasefire.

The ARS has waged a war since Ethiopia invaded Somalia illegally in early 2007 with the U.S. Bush Administration's backing.

The unpopular TFG's prime minister admitted that the allegations that the government militia is systematically killing or arresting WFP and UN officials made it extremely difficult to provide the east African state with the humanitarian assistance it so vitally needs.

Osman Ali Ahmed, the head of the UN Development Programme in Somalia, was shot dead, reportedly by government officials, on Sunday by unknown gunmen as he left a mosque in the capital Mogadishu.

The killing of the top UN figure in Somalia was only the latest of a number of slayings of aid workers including a WFP driver who was shot today, July 10th. Charities have repeatedly asked both sides in Somalia to spare humanitarian staff.

The African Union mission to Somalia has deployed 2,600 peacekeepers in Somalia in addition to over 30,000 Ethiopian troops spread across the country -- well short of a promised 8,000 multinational African troops. So far it has failed to stem the violence between Ethiopia and the ARS fighters.

The prime minister's call for peace after meeting with Dutch Aid minister seems to outline the need for calm in the country before he can collect any additional aid from foreign donors for his governments financial needs.  It is becoming more difficult for EU donors to pay financial assistance to a government who is not functioning even in the only city they are based.  Baidoa, which is the only city the TFG claimed control of, was recently attacked and is currently under siege by ARS fighters.


 

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 Additional Somali Sources

Af Soomali blog | Somalia Blog | YouSomali | Number 1 Somali Blogs |  Mogadishu News | Current Somali News |  Somali News Articles | United Islamic Courts Blog | Somali News Blog | Somali By Somalis | Somali Cities Blogs | US Agenda In Somalia

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Amin Arts Discussions | Somali News and Blogs | http://www.somchat.com/ 

 
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