EU urges Somali factions to agree on ceasefire
EU urges Somali factions to agree to cease-fire, allow in humanitarian aid
AP Worldstream
Published: May 14, 2007
European Union foreign ministers appealed to the Somali government and rebels on Monday “to do their utmost” to achieve a cease-fire and let aid workers into the country to help citizens caught in the crossfire.
The EU ministers said they were dismayed over the humanitarian situation in the country, where the government and its Ethiopian allies are again fighting against Islamic insurgents.
They said all warring parties had an obligation to comply with international humanitarian law and provide safe passage for food and medicines to reach the needy.
In a statement, they urged Somali authorities “to do their utmost to remove any obstacle to the free movement of aid and humanitarian relief workers into and throughout the country.”
At least 400,000 people have fled the capital Mogadishu during fighting over the past two months which killed at least 1,670 people.
Since open fighting ended three weeks ago, the foreign ministers have called all parties in the conflict “to show continued restraint and to consolidate the cessation of hostilities” and work on a cease-fire. The EU said it would assist in implementing the cease-fire but would not send peacekeepers there.
Instead, the EU has said it will try to help fund an African Union peacekeeping force of 1,400 Ugandans, who were deployed to Somalia last month.
The Somali government has said it must inspect any goods being sent to Somalia, delaying vital aid shipments to victims of the conflict. Several large shipments of food have been turned back because there was no government clearance, according to aid agencies and diplomats.
The United Nations has said more than 320,000 of Mogadishu’s 2 million residents have fled since February, sending streams of people into squalid camps.
(AP)