I'll bet this doesn't make the evening news... (one google hit...)
Nor will this appraisal from Arab News:
Operation Dung Beetle: The US Partnership With Somali Warlords
Abukar Arman, Arab News
June 4, 2006
<...>
Upon its formation last year, TFG, mindful of its frailty, has requested
a peacekeeping army from the so-called front-line states that include
several neighboring states. This was a controversial proposition that
was opposed by the majority of Somalis in the homeland and the Diaspora
who preferred the deployment of an international peacekeeping force
(excluding the front-line states) that is led by the US.
Among the civil societies who supported the latter proposition was the
Washington-based Pan-Somali Council for Peace and Democracy — the
largest Somali advocacy organization in the Diaspora — who issued an
open letter to the US State Department and the UN.
In hindsight, this was an opportune time for the US to help end anarchy
in Somalia and prevent it from becoming a haven for global terrorism.
Alas, in what seems to be another episode of foreign policy
schizophrenia, the Bush administration opted to avoid the legal channels
altogether and forge a partnership with blood-soaked criminals!
<...>
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=83223&d=4&m=6&y=2006
Pan-Somali Council for Peace and Democracy (ISRAACA)
1201 Pennsylvania Ave, NW #300 PMP #49 Washington, DC 20004
Telephone: (202) 661-4653 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.israaca.org
http://somalinet.com/news/world/English/2909
Fri. June 16, 2006 12:32 pm
Your Excellencies:
After fifteen successive failed peace conferences and sixteen years of
pervasive lawlessness; after several months of bloody violence in the
streets of Mogadishu that took the lives of several hundred of mostly
unarmed citizens, a seemingly new day of hope is dawning for Somalia.
The unfathomable outcome has emerged amidst what seemed to be the most
hopeless days since the peek of the Somali fratricide in early 90s-
peace, at least for the moment, is finally restored in the streets of
Mogadishu.
Cross-tribal jubilation is underway since last week when some of the
most powerful and indeed most loathed warlords who perpetuated violence
and chaos and rendered every peace agreement null and void have been
chased out of Mogadishu at the hands of a coalition of the Islamic
Courts (ICs) of Mogadishu.
While ICs was initially thought -at least by the U.S. who was seemingly
operating on a “false intelligence” provided by Ethiopia- of being a
terrorist coalition, its historical background affirms that it is
nothing other than a clan-based Islamic courts that came together to
fill a vacuum created by the absence of other legitimate authorities
willing or capable to securing law and order in Mogadishu. Nonetheless,
the suspicion of having terrorist ties still lingers.
The ICs’ record might not be immaculate per its implementation and might
be amateurish in its modus operandi, but, as its chairman Sheikh Sharif
Sheikh Ahmed has indicated in a numerous interviews, the coalition,
though it has a popular support from the average Somali, the business
community that has been the economic lifeline of the nation, and the
civil societies who have been patching together the Somali social
fabric, is neither interested in ruling Somalia nor in imposing their
religious views on any one or the nation. Furthermore, the ICs welcomed
the U.S. expressed willingness to open official dialogue with the ICs
and to recognize the Transitional Federal Government.
With that background in mind, the Pan-Somali Council for Peace and
Democracy (Israaca) strongly urges the United States, the United
Nations, the European Union, the African Union, the Islamic League, and
the International Community to support the ICs in order to build on the
current milestone and political momentum, and to enact on the following
in order to sustain the current fresh air of peace and hope:
I. No country should directly or indirectly support the warlords to
continue their reign of terror
II. Support the ICs to maintain peace and order
III. Assist and empower the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to
fulfill its constitutional mandate
IV. Respect and uphold UN Resolution 733 imposing arms embargo on Somalia
V. Refrain from providing any shelter or haven to the warlords
VI. Help set up a Somali War Crimes Tribunal
VII. Help build institutions that would provide rehabilitation programs,
maintain peace and sustain democracy
VIII. Support legitimate civil societies with proven track records
IX. Provide trainings in governance
That said: we would be remiss not to express special gratitude towards
the EU which has been the largest donor since October 2002 when it
started to fund the IGAD initiated Somali peace conference convened in
Kenya, and has, in March 2006, in its 2718th General Affairs Council
meeting, adopted a resolution putting Somalia in its priority list thus
explicitly committing the EU to help Somalia in the critical areas of
reconciliation, rehabilitation, and development; also, Djibouti and
Kenya, for their respective hospitality, moral, and political support.
It goes without saying: the Somali people, whether in their homeland or
in the Diaspora, are forever grateful.
The Pan-Somali Council for Peace and Democracy is a Washington-based
Somali advocacy organization with a wide-range of membership in Somalia
and around the world who are made of professionals, academician, public
intellectuals, and activists.
The Pan-Somali Council for Peace and Democracy pledges to help any body,
nation or nations that seek to find a lasting solution to the prolonged
Somali Conflict.
Sincerely,
Said Salah, Executive Director
