SOMALIA: "Government interested in dialogue with the opposition"
NAIROBI, 13 March 2008 (IRIN) - The announcement by the Somali transitional government that it would like to engage opposition groups in dialogue to end the country's 16-year civil war is an important policy shift, an analyst said.
"It is the first time that the TFG [Transitional Federal Government] has laid out such a clear statement of its intent vis-à-vis reconciliation; it recognises the need for a neutral venue for talks; and it seeks international facilitation of such a process," Matt Bryden, an independent analyst based in Nairobi, told IRIN.
The initiative was announced in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on 12 March by Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.
"We owe it to the millions of Somalis who are suffering to end this nightmare," said Ahmed Abdisalam, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information. "The government is willing to talk to anyone opposed to it and will go to any place to advance reconciliation."
The government, he added, would aggressively pursue a reconciliation process and was not ruling out negotiations with any "group or person", urging the international community to get involved in mediation efforts. "The country belongs to all of us and every Somali has a role to play," he said.
The opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, which is based in Eritrea, declined to comment on the transitional government's initiative.
"We are not making any comments now; we are studying their [the government’s] statement," Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the alliance's chairman, said.
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, welcomed the announcement. "As requested by the Somali parties, I will assume the leadership role and will contact all sides to propose the timing and modalities for future discussions.
“Their brothers in the opposition, civil society organisations and the diaspora have repeatedly expressed to me the same desire to join the discussion for peace and reconciliation," Ould-Abdallah said.
Bryden said the initiative offered fundamental preconditions for a productive dialogue, but the international community had to play its part.
"It is essential that the TFG's appeal for international engagement, led by the UN, receive not only an immediate and positive response, but one that answers four key questions: Where will the dialogue occur? Under whose auspices? Who will participate and what will be on the agenda?"
A civil society source in Mogadishu, who declined to be named, said the government's proposal was a welcome change from its previous "antagonistic” statements, but it needed to be followed by positive action. "I hope the opposition will take this conciliatory gesture and reciprocate," the source said.
However, he warned that "without serious international involvement this proposal will go nowhere. This is the time we need a positive and genuine involvement from the international community to push the sides to come to an agreement.
"This is the least they can do for the million or so Somalis displaced by the conflict," he added.
Ethiopian-backed government forces have been engaged in fierce fighting in Mogadishu against insurgents sympathetic to the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and clan militias since UIC forces were ousted in late 2006.
According to human rights groups, at least 6,000 people have died and hundreds of thousands been displaced in the conflict since 2006.
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Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Governance, (IRIN) Human Rights, (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs
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Copyright © IRIN 2008
This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.
IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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