Italian Embassy (Press Release)
Addis Ababa, April 10, 2003 (The Daily Monitor) - The Joint IGAD Partners Forum (JIPF) of Ambassadors met in Addis Ababa on Tuesday and reiterated their unanimous support to the Somalia National Reconciliation Conference at Mbagathi (Nairobi), the Italian Embassy here said.
They commended the Government of Kenya for hosting the Conference and the IGAD Front Line States Technical Committee for its crucial role in the process. They commended the Kenyan Special Envoy, Ambassador Kiplagat, for having inspired a new dynamic in the Reconciliation Conference.
The Ambassadors expressed satisfaction with the completion of the work of the six reconciliation committees.
They stressed the importance of harmonizing the documents produced by them, in order to provide a sound basis for the conclusive phase of the Conference.
All Somali Leaders were urged to remain fully committed to the reconciliation process under IGAD auspices. Referring to the concerns voiced by the IGAD Foreign Ministers on the subject of "forum shopping", the JIPF Ambassadors underlined that the IGAD-sponsored Conference is the sole forum likely to produce comprehensive and sustainable reconciliation in Somalia.
The Ambassadors stressed the need for constant and reliable information on the Conference to be provided by the media, and appealed to them to ensure objective reporting.
The Ambassadors strongly condemned the recurrent violations of the cessation-of-hostilities declaration of 27th of October 2003, which was signed by all faction leaders.
They expressed their support for the planned fact-finding mission of IGAD and African Union representatives to Somalia, which shall pave the way for the establishment of an international cease-fire monitoring mechanism.
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