State's Frazer Cites Danger of Somalia Attracting Terrorists
23 June 2006
Assistant secretary says peace, dialogue urgently needed in Somalia
Washington -- It is urgently important that all parties in Somalia stop any hostilities and begin a dialogue with one another, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer told reporters June 21.
Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi on her first official visit to Kenya as assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Frazer said she was there to deliver a message from the International Somalia Contact Group, which recently met in New York.
That message, she said, was one of support for Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and she urged peace and reconciliation in that nation. Frazer also expressed concern about the state of security in the Eastern Horn of Africa and about the possibility of Somalia becoming a "terrorist safe-haven."
The assistant secretary told reporters that while in Kenya, she held talks with the leadership of the Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government: Speaker Sharrif Hassan, President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi.
She said she was "very much encouraged" that all three are on their way to Khartoum, Sudan, to have their first meeting with a delegation from the Union of Islamic Courts, which has claimed to have taken control of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, after weeks of fighting. She praised the three transitional government leaders for taking the initiative to bring peace and stability to Somalia.
Frazer said U.S. policy towards Somalia remains unchanged. "We are concerned about Somalia becoming a safe-haven for terrorists. We are particularly concerned about individuals in Somalia today who were responsible for attacking Kenya and Tanzania -- by bombing our embassies in both places -- for planning attacks against Kenya, the hotel in Mombasa and against the Israeli airliner."
For that reason, she said, "We will continue to pursue that objective to bring to justice those individuals responsible."
Asked about the Union of Islamic Courts and U.S. policy, Frazer said, "We will reserve judgment. They have certainly reached out to us. They reached out to the Somali International Contact Group. … They indicated that they want to work positively for the future of Somalia. They do not intend to be a replacement government. They are not trying to threaten the Transitional Federal Government. In that regard, we are sort of in a wait-and-see posture. We have called specifically on them to enter into a dialogue with the Transitional Federal Government."
Frazer called the Union of Islamic Courts a "very heterogeneous group" made up of both moderates and hardliners. "So the important thing is for them to talk to the Transitional Federal Government to make their intention known."
Frazer made note of President Bush's East Africa Counterterrorism Initiative, which was launched to prevent the region as a whole from becoming a base for al-Qaida operatives. She described Somalia as a "classic failed state" and told reporters, "We have to obviously help build the institution of the government" there. (See related article.)
Part of the global war on terrorism, she said, is about sharing information and bringing terrorists to justice. "So our policy remains and continues to be to focus those priorities," she said, naming "counterterrorism, support for the Transitional Federal Institutions in Somalia [that country's nominal government], assistance to the people of Somalia and the strengthening of regional cooperation against criminality, arms and terror."
While in Kenya, Frazer said she also met with Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju to discuss the U.S.-Kenyan bilateral relationship, as well as issues concerning the whole region, Somalia and Sudan.
Frazer said she also met with the leader of the opposition in Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, and some of his colleagues to discuss the role of parliament and democracy. The assistant secretary said she had just come from Uganda and was traveling on to Djibouti and Ethiopia to "address, discuss and coordinate" on Somalia.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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