Islamist leader seeks to topple Somali government – UN envoy
May 13, 2009 (ADDIS ABABA) – UN envoy to Somalia accused today an Islamist leader of seeking to topple the recently formed national unity government in the country.
Since May 9, hard-line Islamist Al-Shebab battle the pro-government militia in an attempt to dislodge the UN supported Transitional Federal Government (TFG) led by President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
UN special envoy for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah on Wednesday blamed Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys for the recent fighting in Mogadishu and accused him of seeking to topple the country’s government.
“Aweys came to take power and topple a legitimate regime,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting on Somalia at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
Ould-Abdallah described the attackers as extremists who know do not have the support of the Somali people, and accused them of bringing in foreign fighters who have no connections to the situation in Somalia.
Clashes that started last have left some 100 people dead.
Aweys and Sharif were two of the Islamist leaders who took over most of Somalia in 2006 before being ousted by an Ethiopian invasion in support of the TFG.
Sharif ultimately joined the UN-sponsored reconciliation process based in Djibouti and was elected Somalia’s president in January, days after Ethiopia completed its military pullout.
UN Security Council members in a meeting held today to discuss the fragile situation there voiced serious concern at persistent attempts by hard-line Islamist forces in Somalia to derail government efforts to restore peace and stability.
Following the meeting, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters the Security Council members “expressed serious concern at continuing attempts by Al-Shebab fighters to destabilize the situation in Mogadishu and some other areas of the country.”
UN official during the meeting urged international support to the fragile peace process and to help the government to consolidate the delicate political consensus reached recently
“We meet today at a critical moment for Somalia,” Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe told a meeting of the Security Council. “One in which the response of the international community to an embattled Government’s pleas for help could make the difference between consolidating hopeful steps toward peace and a descent once again into anarchy and hopelessness.”
Mr. Pascoe said the situation remains “quite fragile” following the attempted coup on 9 May by Sheikh Aweys and Al Shebab fighters, and noted that the latest surge in violence is clearly a response to the Government’s strategy to reach out and build a critical mass in support of peace.
UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy informed the Council about the three-phase approach Mr. Ban has outlined for UN engagement in Somalia, saying that the incremental approach is the right strategy for the country at the present time.
He pointed out that important benchmarks for establishing a UN force include implementation of a credible ceasefire, consent to the deployment by all the major Somali actors on the ground, and adequate pledges of troops and required military capacities by Member States.
(ST)