Monday, November 17, 2008
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Nairobi - The United Nations' envoy for Somalia urged all parties in
the conflict to set aside their personal differences and focus on
supporting ongoing talks aimed at ending 17 years of bloodshed.A day after Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein blamed President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed of sabotaging efforts to create a new cabinet, UN envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah scolded the Horn of Africa country's bickering leaders.
"I appeal to all Somalis within the government, the opposition, the diaspora, the business community and other interested parties, especially as we are coming close to Eid al-Adha, to think of their country's dignity and its future and end their disagreements," he said in a statement.
Ould-Abdallah urged the pair "to agree on a new cabinet quickly because a continuing power struggle did not serve Somalia's interests, particularly as there was now an agreement to establish a broad-based unity government'.
The Somali leaders failed to form the new government by November 12, a deadline set by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) - a regional body - during its October summit in Nairobi.
Hussein has also accused Yusuf of failing to support October power-sharing and truce deals reached between the government and the Islamist-led political opposition, the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), at UN-mediated talks in Djibouti.
Ould-Abdallah stressed that the deals were key to halting nearly two decades of bloodletting in Somalia.
"Somalia has made significant progress recently with the Djibouti Agreement... I believe that the unanimous support of the international community to stability and reconciliation in Somalia is now bearing fruit.
"After so many years of war and suffering it is vital to keep moving forward and not to allow personal interests, sensitivities or misunderstandings to get in the way of the continuing peace process," the UN envoy said.
Somalia has lacked an effective government since the 1991 ouster of president Mohamed Siad Barre touched off a bloody power struggle that has defied numerous attempts to restore stability.
SOURCE: AFP, Monday, November 17, 2008