Additional troops to Somalia welcome, says defence minister

Heads of state and government pose for a photo after attending the 14th Extra-Ordinary Summit of Igad Assembly of Heads of State and Government on the Sudan Peace Process at Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, March 9, 2010.

A minster in the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has said his administration welcomes troops offered by the InterGovernmental Agency on Development (Igad).

The new Defence minister, Abukar Abdi Osman Mardadi was on Wednesday reacting to media reports that the shaky government was reluctant to accept troops offered by the Eastern Africa block at the end of its meeting in Addis Ababa.The minister said TFG welcomes troops sent by Igad to help improve the security, whether they come from the frontline states (Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti) or from distant nations.The leaders of Igad countries that include Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti and Somalia have called for 20,000 troops to be deployed across Somalia to support the restoration of peace.“We actually urge them to accelerate deployment of mentioned forces,” he said. Mr Mardadi reiterated that the current peacekeepers in Mogadishu serving the African Union Mission in Somalia, Amisom, and any additional forces would be used to boost the stabilisation process of the war torn country.
Cautious
“Peacekeepers offered by our partners and continental and world bodies will help the TFG’s drive to restore peace and security,” said the minister.He added that although the government is mandated to guarantee the security of all the people in Somalia, it is operating cautiously in the face of ferocious attacks from radical Islamist groups, namely Al-Shabaab and Hizbu Islam.“We have always been on the defensive end,” said Mr Mardadi.The Somali minister called on all opponents of the TFG to accept and join the reconciliation process. Mr Mardadi recalled that some Islamist and opposition groups had joined the government over the years. mentioned the faction of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, ARS that was led by Somalia’s current president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed that joined the TFG in January 2009 and the moderate Islamist group, Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea, which signed an agreement with the government in March this year.