Military

DATE=2/19/2004

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=SOMALIA / PEACE

NUMBER=5-54918

BYLINE=ALISHA RYU

DATELINE=MOGADISHU

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Late last month, a group of powerful Somali warlords and clan leaders reached a landmark agreement on forming a unified government in the Horn of African country. For many people in Somalia, the deal has raised hope that peace and order, which has eluded the country for more than a decade, could soon be restored. But, as Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, not everyone believes that creating a government run by warlords will end the suffering and bloodshed.

TEXT: One of the best examples of how people in Somalia have learned to cope in a country without a government is the way Somalis obtain passports for travel.

They go to the market and simply buy one.

/// SOUND OF SOMALI MUSIC AND TRAFFIC, EST AND FADE///

In Mogadishu, anyone, including foreigners, can walk into one of several so-called immigration offices at the main Barakaat market and buy a passport. The passports, which were printed overseas and shipped here, can cost anywhere from 20 to 50 dollars, depending on demand.

But passport merchant Omar Ali Sheik says there is little demand for passports that only a handful of countries accept as valid travel documents, and which most Somalis, who earn less than a dollar a day, cannot afford to buy.

He says before Somalia's last government was overthrown in 1991, he was studying to be an immigration official.

/// SHEIK ACT IN SOMALI - EST. AND FADE UNDER ///

Mr. Sheik says he had a bright future in Mogadishu when there was a functioning government, and the Americans and Europeans had their embassies here. He says the war has destroyed society, driven out the foreigners and left the Somali people destitute.

Shaking his fist in the air in frustration, Mr. Sheik says, Somalis need a government and need the help of the international community, now.

Most, if not all, Somalis say they want a new government that can restore order and bring back much-needed international aid and investments. But there is little agreement on just who should lead that government.

/// SOUND OF TEACHER SPEAKING TO STUDENTS IN ENGLISH - ESTAB AND UNDER ///

Privately run Mogadishu University was founded five-years ago by Somali intellectuals who were educated abroad, mostly in the United States and Canada.

They say they firmly oppose a plan, endorsed by the United States and other countries, that calls for a government formed along clan lines that would include the leadership of about 25 armed groups in Somalia. Details of that proposal are being hammered out among the warlords and clan leaders at a peace conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

One of the founders of Mogadishu University, Abdurahman Abdullahi, says he believes the plan would only legitimize the power of the warlords who have destroyed the country.

/// ABDULLAHI ACT ///

The warlords do not represent the Somali people. They were not elected by the Somalis. I think Somalis feel America should come forward on a different avenue other than the warlords because they (Somalis) do not like the warlords and they do not like anybody who comes through the warlords.

/// END ACT ///

/// OPT /// Mr. Abdullahi's colleague, Hussein Iman, agrees.

/// IMAN ACT ///

Why are the Somalis in this weak situation and destruction? Because of the warlords! They have demolished everything.

/// END ACT /// END OPT ///

The educators argue the international community should make an urgent effort to help Somalis find their next leader among the many successful Somali businessmen and intellectuals living in exile.

Mr. Abdullahi and his colleagues say they do not believe a stable government can be formed in Somalia without a well-educated leader with a clear vision for the country's future.

But other Somalis in Mogadishu, like Abdullah Haji Diab, reject the idea of searching for a new leader, saying this would take too long. Mr. Diab is leading a grassroots campaign in Mogadishu to pressure the warlords at the Nairobi talks to quickly finalize an overall agreement for governing Somalia.

Mr. Diab says, while a government of warlords may not be the best option for the country, their talks in Nairobi offer the best hope.

/// DIAB ACT ///

We are tired. And you can see, all these young people who do not have a future. They are only expecting (waiting for) the outcome of Nairobi.

/// END ACT ///

There are signs the talks in Nairobi may drag on longer than many people had hoped. Several powerful warlords have threatened to withdraw because of a dispute in the wording of an agreement to form a government signed just three-weeks ago.

Somalis who support the peace process say, if the talks unravel, they fear the country may plunge again into violence from which it may never recover. (SIGNED)

NEB/AR/MAR/KL/RAE