Global perspective Human stories

Concerned at rising tension in Somalia, UN officials urge dialogue among parties

Concerned at rising tension in Somalia, UN officials urge dialogue among parties

The senior United Nations envoy to Somalia today urged leaders of the Transitional Federal Government and the Supreme Council of the Islamic Courts to restrain their respective forces and called for them to resume the dialogue they started in Sudan last month.

Reacting to an increasingly tense atmosphere in Somalia, where fighting threatens to spread to Baidoa, the seat of the Transitional Federal Institutions, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his senior envoy to the country today urged the parties to engage in a dialogue aimed at peacefully settling their differences.

Voicing concern about reports of increased tension and the potential outbreak of violence near Baidoa, a spokesman for Mr. Annan in New York called on the Somali parties “to refrain from actions that could further strain relations between the Transitional Federal Institutions and the Supreme Council of the Islamic Courts.”

Last month, militias associated with the Union of Islamic Courts drove warlords out of Mogadishu and took control of parts of Somalia, which has not had a functioning government since the fall of President Barre’s regime.

Today, Mr. Annan’s spokesman urged the Somali parties to engage in a sustained dialogue aimed at producing an agreed and durable solution. “He also calls on the international community to intensify its support to peace efforts and to encourage the Somali parties to pursue negotiations,” the spokesman said.

Echoing these views, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, François Lonsény Fall, issued a statement in Nairobi appealing to both sides to respect the ceasefire and other provisions of an agreement they had reached in Khartoum on 22 June with the facilitation of the League of Arab States. He cited in particular their commitment to refrain from any provocations that could lead to an escalation of the situation.

“The place to deal with differences is at the negotiating table,” he stressed.

Ambassador Fall said that the leadership of the Transitional Federal Government and representatives of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Courts had made a “good beginning” when they met in Khartoum last month.

“A continuation of the Khartoum process will give them a further opportunity to flesh out their expectations and move towards a peaceful solution,” he said.

Stressing that Somalia “desperately” needs peace if it is to rise above the humanitarian emergency that has engulfed much of the population, he urged the parties “to consider the interests of the people first and put aside political calculations.”