Top UN envoy welcomes move by Somali leaders towards reconciliation

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the United Nations Special Representative for Somalia, has welcomed an agreement signed by the Horn of Africa nation’s leaders to promote reconciliation, the rule of law and good governance.

The 25 August pact – facilitated by the Ethiopian Government under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) – was signed in Addis Ababa by President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Speaker of Parliament Sheikh Aden Madobe and Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.

The three men also committed to implementing the Djibouti Agreement, a UN-brokered peace deal in which the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somali (ARS), an opposition group, have formally agreed to end all armed confrontation between them.

“I would like to congratulate the leaders on their agreement,” Mr. Ould-Abdallah said. “This is a good step forward which will strengthen the TFG in their partnership with the ARS and other Somalis for peace in the country.”