Senior UN envoy in Somalia welcomes plan to hold key meetings on peace deal

The top United Nations envoy to Somalia said today he was encouraged that two key committees set up as a part of a June accord aiming to bring peace to the war-torn country are set to convene this weekend.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, said in a press release that the Joint Security Committee and the High Level Committee will meet in neighbouring Djibouti for three days starting this Saturday.

Under the Djibouti Agreement, reached by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) on 9 June, the Joint Security Committee is tasked with implementing security arrangements while the High Level Committee deals with political cooperation, justice and reconciliation.

The TFG and the ARS agreed to end their conflict under the deal, which is trying to resolve the long-standing issues that have left Somalia without a functioning national government since 1991.

Mr. Ould-Abdallah said the two sides will have delegations participating in both committee meetings, while many representatives of the international community will also attend. Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein and opposition leaders Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan are among those slated to participate.

The Special Representative called on the Somali Parliament to suspend its work on certain issues over the next week so that some of its members can attend the committee meetings in Djibouti.

“I would like the parliamentarians to show their full support for the peace process and for the plight of the Somali population,” he said.