Somali govt proposes joint forces with Islamic militia

Sept 3, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Somalia’s interim government on Sunday proposed integrating its forces with the country’s powerful Islamic militia, on the second day of peace talks in the tense Horn of Africa nation.

“The government proposes the creation of a Somali armed force which consists of the army and the police by bringing together forces of the transitional federal government and the Islamic courts union,” the government said.

Faced with Islamists controlling swathes of southern and central Somalia, the weak government said it was willing to resolve the Somali conflict through dialogue and would stick to a truce and mutual recognition deal signed in June.

The government expressed its position in a paper tabled at the Arab League-mediated peace talks in Khartoum, which aim to ease rising tensions threatening to further destabilize the anarchic nation.

In addition, the government demanded an end to military incursions into Somalia, which has been wracked by chaos since the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.

The government has accused the Islamists of receiving military support from Ethiopia’s arch-rival Eritrea, and there are fears these two nations will turn Somalia into a proxy battleground for their long-standing border dispute.

Addis Ababa meanwhile has repeatedly denied deploying troops to protect Somalia’s government from a feared Islamist advance and instead said it has sent “trainers”.

According to Sunday’s government proposal, Somalia should “coexist peacefully with its neighbouring countries and neighbouring countries should make no intervention, including military incursions”.

It added: “They should not interfere with the internal affairs of Somalia,” warning that this “could bring further political destabilisation”.

No response was immediately available from the Islamists, but they have warned in the past that the alleged continued presence of Ethiopian troops could harm the peace talks.

The government did not make clear whether its prospects of ending the fighting included accepting the planned deployment of regional peacekeepers.

Both sides remain at loggerheads over the proposed deployment of regional peacekeepers to shore up the government’s limited authority, a plan vehemently opposed by the Islamists who have vowed to fight any foreign force.

The Islamists are not represented in the government, which was created two years ago in Kenya but has been wracked by infighting and unable to assert control over much of the country outside its seat of Baidoa, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of the capital.

In Nairobi, Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju and Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a top Islamic courts official, held talks ahead of an Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) summit in Nairobi to discuss the situation in Somalia.

“We acknowledge the positive role that they (Islamic courts) have played and we want this to be realised as a whole for the betterment of Somalia,” Kenyan ambassador to Somalia Mohamed Affey told reporters here.

Ahmed is scheduled to meet IGAD chairman and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki ahead of the summit on Tuesday, officials said.

Mogadishu’s powerful Islamic courts have moved to fill the power vacuum and as they have reached beyond the city to take control of much of southern Somalia, they have fuelled fears of a Taliban-style takeover of the country, notably with the enforcement of Sharia law.

Several diplomats have suggested that differences could be resolved if the Islamists were offered cabinet positions but it remained unclear at the weekend whether the government would consider such a step.

On Saturday, the Islamists demanded respect and a share of power, arguing that their seizure of the capital and other towns in June entitled them to rule. However they also recognized the legitimacy of the transitional administration in a gesture of good will.

The UN envoy to Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, urged the two sides to use the talks to reverse years of turmoil the country has suffered.

“Somalia has been in turmoil for far too long and you now have the historic opportunity to lead it away from a path of confrontation and conflict towards a path of reconciliation, unity and peace,” Fall said.

Somalia has been without a working central authority since the ousting of Barre paved the way for the rise of warlords, who were in turn defeated by the Islamists after fierce clashes in June.

More than a dozen international efforts have failed to restore a functioning administration in this nation of 10 million people, and analysts warn that continued violence could turn the country into a haven for terrorism.

(ST/AFP