A Week in the Horn

The political crisis in Mogadishu sparked off last week by the dismissal of Mohamed Dhere, the Mayor of Mogadishu, by Prime Minister Nur Hassan ‘Adde’ and the refusal of President Abdullahi Yusuf to accept the move, continues. Eleven ministers from the Prime Minister’s 15 strong cabinet resigned and the Prime Minster made six new appointments though these have yet to be ratified by the President. Prime Minister Nur Hassan ‘Adde’ has made it clear he will not resign. This afternoon, the AU Peace and Security Council expressed its deep concern at the difficulties facing the TFG and the resignation of the cabinet ministers. It urged Somali leaders to show “a unity of purpose and take all steps required to enhance the cohesion of the Transitional Federal Institutions to consolidate the progress made following the Djibouti Agreement”. The Council also called on the UN Security Council to authorize the early deployment of a peacekeeping operation to take over from AMISOM, and, in the meantime, the establishment of an international stabilization force, as called for in the Djibouti Agreement. The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Amedou Ould-Abdullah has also expressed his concern over the current problems facing the administration, calling on all Somalis to work together for peace and reconciliation. He said the authorities should remain focused on peace, calling on the President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Prime Minister and all MPs to move forward. Mr. Ould-Abdallah said it was particularly unfortunate that this situation arose at a time when the parties signing the Djibouti Agreement had just submitted the names of participants for the Joint Security Committee, tasked to follow up on the implementation of security arrangements agreed at Djibouti, and the High Level Committee which deals with political cooperation, justice and reconciliation. The two committees will be holding their first meetings shortly in Djibouti. This was, Mr. Ould-Abdallah said, an important step by the TFG and the ARS, demonstrating their commitment to the Djibouti Agreement. The ARS leader, Sheikh Sharif, has been in Cairo this week with a large delegation. His visit is part of a longer itinerary visiting a number of Arab and European countries and the US to try and drum up support for the Djibouti Agreement. The ARS has called on the international community to play an important role in the peace process. Meanwhile, on Sunday in Mogadishu, a bomb killed 20 women, and injured 47, five of whom later died. Most were part of a street cleaning group clearing rubbish on Maka Al Mukerama Road for a food for work program. Nobody has claimed responsibility for this atrocity but there is a widespread belief that the bomb had been placed by Al-Shabaab terrorists as part of its campaign to disrupt the political reconciliation process and international humanitarian relief aid to Somalia more..http://www.mfa.gov.et/Press_Section/Week_Horn_Africa_August_08_2008.htm