| 19 May 2007 04:13 SOMALIA WATCH |
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End In Sight For Somali Civil War? Story Filed: Tuesday, March 21, 2000 9:49 PM EST Burao City (Somali Peace Rally, March 21, 2000) - The Somali Peace Rally (SPR) strongly supports the Djibouti peace initiatives, yet the SPR remains worried about the recent rejections of the peace plan by Somali warlords. Current attitudes of animosity, incompatibility, suspicion and hostility by Somali warlords towards Djibouti peace plan reflect their unwillingness to contribute to sustainable peace impact and stability in Somalia. Worse still, such ill-disposed attitudes of Somali warlords may, in effect, inflict another deep division among various Somali clans and generate another round of conflict, if the international community does not hold the warlords back and force them to co-operatively participate in bringing the peace process to fruition. Moreover, it is equally clear that Somali warlords have economic interest in perpetuating a state of anarchy in Somalia. And that is why they do not want to see their unbridled passion of riches and power to be constrained by a Somali state with the capability to make rules, collect revenue and to enforce the rule of law. Those who benefit from Somalia's civil war will not favour Djibouti's mediation either. Therefore, the SPR strongly urges the international community to persuade the government of Libya to be instrumental in bringing Somali warlords to the peace table in Djibouti, since warlords long enjoy political and material support by government of Libya whose supports in turn were used for Somali social destruction. The Djibouti peace plan aims at the holding of a national reconciliation conference and the establishment of a Somali transitional government with an acting president, prime minister and a parliament. The SPR also urges Somali participants - among whom political, religious and traditional leaders, and Somali women - at the Djibouti peace conference to make a difference to the development of their society by crafting major socio-economic policies with key features such as strengthening the integrity, efficiency and effectiveness of future Somali civil service, legal certainty for all Somalis and control of the armed forces. The SPR believes that the leadership is critically important during times of great change in the country. As such we firmly recommend that the future Somali political leaders should be leaders with a deep understanding of current conditions by their society, a clear vision of the future and with the ability to consider long-term consequences of particular courses of action during transition. Sure enough, disciplined and legitimate political leaders are very essential in developing effective state capacity and insuring that public power and country's meagre resources are not anymore used for personal gain, in order to change the country's fortunes. Similarly, conscious and determined leaders with a legitimate power base, and accountable public institutions are now absolutely essential in achieving such objectives and rising Somalis out of the ashes of the brutal civil war. As Somalis strongly feel the lack of justice, good governance, employment and of education, the SPR believes that the country is deeply in need of institutions with capacity to plan and effectively manage Somalia's post-conflict development programmes. And such needs, surely, demand our political leaders of the expected transitional government to be vibrant leaders equipped with knowledge of changes taking place regionally and internationally. With so much work to be done, effective regional governments could play a great role in the promotion of peace and realisation of sustainable system in the long run. In effect, Somalis may enjoy a stability, economic progress and sustainable peace impact, after a successful agreement of Djibouti peace plan, but only if Somali warlords' appetite for pulling down the country first disappears entirely and Somali intellectuals in Djibouti get serious about their country's problems. The SPR thanks the government of Djibouti and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) for the hard work they put into moving Somali peace process forward. The SPR expresses its support for an appropriate U.N. role in Djibouti peace plan. Somali Peace Rally (SPR), Burao City, Somalia, contact e-mail: sprally@hotmail.com Distributed via Africa News Online. Copyright © 2000, Africa News Service, all rights reserved. You may now print or save this document. [ News] |
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