Somalia may explode again

Editoral: Business Daily

October 26, 2007: Somalia has all the potential to explode once again as the world watches. The kidnappings, murder, and intimidation, especially of the 1,600 Ugandan peacekeepers in Mogadishu, should not be allowed.

This year alone, the infighting between Islamic insurgents and government troops backed by Ethiopia, has seen more than 1.5 million Somalis internally displaced and there is no end in sight over the suffering.

All the fighting groups must sit down and negotiate peace and they require global support. The shaky-UN backed government is unable to tame the situation and it requires both goodwill and loads of material and military support to perform.

Even with the current US and EU funding, it is a pity that the African Union cannot raise troops for Mogadishu. It is a big shame that the promised troops from Nigeria, Ghana and Rwanda are not in place.

As we watch, Somalia is turning into a next-door Iraq, copying the mayhem, including suicide bombings, to the letter. The situation as clearly observed by John Holmes, the UN under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, is “difficult and dangerous”, while the politics is also becoming “complicated and difficult”.

New war fronts are getting opened every day.

There is already a stand-off between the secessionist Somaliland and Puntland. Things are deteriorating fast and the final battle will be fought in Mogadishu. That should not happen.

The UN and the African Union should move first and put the expected 8,000 peacekeepers in place to take over from the Ethiopian troops who have complicated the equation because of its war of words with Eritrea.

Asmara has in turn hosted the Islamic Court leaders including Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and Sheikh Hassan Dahir who is on a US ‘Wanted’ list. Given that the Islamist fighters are opposed to the presence of Ethiopian troops and given the shaky situation on the ground, the UN should move to replace the Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu with a credible force.

That will lower the level of hatred and resistance.

But the world cannot afford to see the Horn of Africa continue to be a theatre of absurdity. The Somalis deserve peace. They want to bring up a new generation but that cannot happen as warlords continue to evoke clan hatred in the quest for power.

Peace must be given a chance and no amount of bombs and guns will save Somalia. Somalis should return to the drawing board and discuss peace. They won’t win that war in the streets of Mogadishu.

Source: Business Daily