Germany, Kenya pledge support for regional peace initiatives

NAIROBI, Jan 20, 2004 (Xinhua) — Germany and Kenya on Tuesday pledged their support in search for regional peace initiatives and called for the need to give support for lasting peace in the Sudan and Somalia.

Addressing a joint press conference at Kenya’s State House, visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, together with his host Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, said that “we welcome the tangible progress that has been achieved in both Sudan and Somalia peace processes that Kenya is playing host to.”

Both Schroeder and Kibaki encouraged all the parties involved in the negotiations to re-dedicate themselves to achieving a final peaceful settlement to the conflicts.

“We shared a common position on the need to galvanize international support in the search for lasting peace in the Sudan and Somalia,” the two leaders said.

Meanwhile, Schroeder commended Kenya for the involvement in search for peace in the region, saying that “Germany supported the peace initiatives by the Kenyan government and this has improved Kenya’s image internationally.”

The Sudanese civil war started as the rebel took up arms fighting for self-determination in the southern part of the country in 1983. The conflict has left some 2 million people dead, mostly through war-induced famine and disease.

The Sudanese government and the rebel began peace talks in July 2002 in Kenya, aimed at ending the longest civil war on the continent.

Somalia dissolved into chaos after the 1991 ousting of strongman Mohammed Siad Barre. The transitional national government, set up in 2000, controls only parts of the capital and parts of the rest of the country.

Somali warlords, clan leaders, interim government officials and representatives from civil society have since October 2002 been attending talks in Kenya aimed at restoring the first semblance of a national administration in Somalia.

Schroeder arrived here Monday, beginning his three-day official visit to the east African country.

This visit is part of Schroeder’s week-long trip to four African countries, namely Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Ghana.

The chancellor arrived in Ethiopia on Sunday, which is the first time he had ever visited Africa since he took office in 1998.

Schroeder’s visit to Africa “plays a key role in enhancing political and economic stability on the continent,” the Kenya Foreign Ministry said in a press release.