Statement by his Excellency Abdullahi Yussuf Ahmed, President of the Transitional Federal Government of the Somali Republic, at the Extra-ordinary Summit of the Islamic Conference at Makkah, Saudi Arabia  - Thursday, December 08, 2005 at 03:54

 

THE REPUBLIC OF SOMALIA

THE TRASITIONAL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

 

          RS-TS-OP-399/2005                 Makkah, December 08, 2005

 

 

His Royal Majesty, Mr.  Secretary General, Excellencies, Brothers and sisters in Islam,

 

 It gives me a great honour to address this Extraordinary Summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which is taking place here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and at the aegis of Makkah Al Mukarramah and the Holly Ka’bah. I hereby extend my deep gratitude to those who brought about our gathering here today.  

 

It is, indeed, an encouraging occasion to see the leaders of the Islamic World taking the time to collectively reassess the current state of affairs of the Muslim World and to contemplate over the many problems engulfing the Islamic Ummah. Similarly, it is very reassuring to witness that the leaders of the Islamic world are clearly mindful of the many formidable challenges that today confront the Muslim Ummah at large and that they evidently embody the required political will to address those challenges.

 

Mr.  Chairman,

 

In my judgement, most of the problems of the Islamic World are very much associated with the unequal dynamics of a globalizing and rapidly transforming world. Globalization has in effect abridged the gap between the local and global jurisdictions of things, in a way that some times run against the traditional understanding of notions like “sovereignty” and “statehood.” Seemingly so far, we are unable to get along with the disruptive nature of these dynamic as the globalization process is happening at a much faster pace than we can comprehend it. As a result, we may continue to find it even harder to manage our political and socio-economic problems locally, without first developing sound strategies in coping with the unfavourable features of globalization and the world order, while harnessing their positive aspects.

 

Although the current world order is certainly less equitable to many nations of the world, it is safe to say that most of these disproportions are characteristically distinctive to the Islamic world. In a world where the lofty principles of respect of human rights are supposed to be universal entitlements, the Muslim world continues to endure under various injustices, violation of rights and persistent media smears. Many people in the Muslim world are still denied to exercise their rights to self-determination, or living under the belligerence of a foreign occupation.

 

Even in the old established democracies, Islamophobia is rife and Muslims are often prompted with unfair scrutiny and ready suspicion. Other manifestations of Islamophobia include such blasphemous practice as the frequent linking of Islam with terrorism. Deviously, these practices attempt to revive some validation for the defunct theory of “The Clashes of Civilizations” which envisions a doomsday scenario of a bitter global enmity eventually breaking out between the Islamic World and Christendom. It is, therefore, a highly dangerous practice as it provocatively risks working against the interest of global harmony, concord, and peace.

 

It is the fundamental interest of the Islamic World - populating a vast and cardinal space of the globe - to ideally strive for the betterment of the human lot and for the realization of an equitable, liveable world. Regrettably however, the state of affairs of our present-day world is far from that. The member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference are currently 57 and that is close to one third of the total nations of the globe. Yet that vast world does not enjoy adequate representations in the international political system, especially in the composition of the membership of the Security Council. Therefore, any serious United Nations Reform must be based on the democratization of its structure and must aim to consider the realities of the contemporary world.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

Instability, raging wars and prolonged conflicts are disproportionately unique to the Islamic World. Enquiringly, most of the these conflicts are concentrated at the far reaches of the Islamic world, such as Kosovo, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Somalia, Southern Sudan and many more. As violence begets even more violence, these conflicts may in due course extend to the rest of the Muslim nations. Their negative implications are already evident in many parts of the Muslim World, by way of disturbed militants and waves of terrorists. It is much effective and easier to contain the spread of terrorism at source than to fight it at destination. I therefore firmly believe that solving these on-going conflicts is a powerful first step in containing the spread of terrorism in the Muslim World.

 

Being one of the burning fringes of the Muslim World, my country, Somalia, has been in a senseless war with itself for the last 15 years. Unlike most other conflicts of the Muslim World, we were not clogging horns with an outside enemy and our political crisis had no active and direct international dimension to it. More over, Somalis are of the same stock: one ethnic group, one religion, one language and no notable different ideological orientations. The country simply descended into a perpetual pointless anarchy of a brother against brother, due to the disintegration of the state and the complete absence of law and order.

 

Despite the relative simplicity of our conflict, it took us a 2-year-long Peace Process at Nairobi, Kenya, to finally reach a comprehensive political settlement for our 15-year civil strife. That settlement has in effect produced a negotiated Transitional Federal Charter and the formation of an all-inclusive Transitional Federal Government of national unity. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is now fully functional inside Somalia trying to reclaim the country from its lawlessness. We are basically starting from scratch and despite our meager resources we are steadily achieving a tangible progress on the ground. The consolidation of the New Government inside Somalia, together with improving stability create a real opportunity to achieve peace and security, promote governance and the rule of law and begin recovery, reconstruction and development throughout Somalia.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

The wave of active hostility in Somalia has already come to en end. We are thus confident that the task of realizing a well-governed and peaceful Somalia is doable, advancing fast and within-reach. As a result, Somalia today is at a favorable juncture where all it needs is a timely help that tips it off towards more stability and continuity. Areas of emergency need for such a fostering help include, institutional capacity building, especially the security sector, and the demobilization, disarmament and reintegration of the ex-combatants of the civil war.

 

I firmly believe that Somalia at this point presents a quick win opportunity, whereby extending that modest help to the government; the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) can take much to its credit in successfully tending to its own. In addition, it is a moral obligation that the leaders of the Muslim World, through the OIC, must seriously consider affording financial, material and political help to Somalia in a timely fashion, thereby effectively ending the troubles of Somalia once and for all.

 

Such a deed would go a long way in giving a new impetus to the OIC; in reaffirming the inter-subjectivity of Muslims everywhere and in instigating the inter-dependency of the Islamic nations. Failing to help Somalia at this critical time of its history would be a grave negligence to one of the readily reversible conflicts of the Muslim World.

  

Thank you,