JEDDAH, 10 October 2003 — US President George W. Bush has said the formation of an effective Somali government will help stabilize the Horn of African and disband terrorism, media reports said on Tuesday.
In a joint press conference in Washington with visiting Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, Bush said he expected Somalia to continue to work with Kenya to bring unity and reconciliation to the war-torn country. Kenya is currently hosting the twelve-month-long Somali peace talks.
“The establishment of an effective representative government in Somalia will help stabilize the region and dispel the hopelessness that feeds terror,’’ Bush said.
Although Bush has not made public commitments on expanding the US role in Somalia, the reports said that Kibaki had asked Bush for more American help in stabilizing Somalia.
Washington abandoned Somalia when 18 American peacekeepers were killed in a firefight in the capital Mogadishu in October 1993. Since Sept. 11, US officials have repeatedly said that Al-Qaeda can exploit Somalia’s anarchy and use it as a base of its operations against the United States and the West.
As a result American warships are stationed off the coast of Somalia to monitor maritime traffic and stop movement of Al-Qaeda fighters. American reconnaissance planes even overfly Somali territory, taking pictures of activities on the ground. “I emphasized that in order to maintain the democratic gains and to sustain the war against terrorism, it is essential that Somalia stabilizes. In this respect, it is important for the US to increase its involvement in this search for peace in Somalia. It is pertinent that all parties involved in the peace process remain engaged. I asked the US government to assist in this regard,” Kibaki said.
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United Nation’s Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland has urged the leaders of the Somali political groups to ensure safety in the country after a veteran aid worker was shot dead in the breakaway region of Somaliland on Sunday.
Egeland has expressed shock and outrage over the murder of 60-year-old Italian Annalena Tonelli outside a hospital she ran in northwestern town of Borama.
“Her death underscores the dangerous circumstances in which aid workers bring assistance to people in need, and the bravery they exhibit in so doing,” he said in a statement published on Wednesday.
“Ms. Tonelli dedicated her life to helping those in need, working under very difficult conditions, in an area of the world often forgotten by others,” he added.
Tonelli, who received the UN 2003 Nansen Refugee Award for her work with refugees in Kenya and Somalia, ran a 200-bed hospital in Somaliland. She also set up clinics to fight tuberculosis and create awareness about HIV/AIDS and the harmful effects of female genital mutilation.
At the same time, European Parliament chief Pat Cox has also condemned the killing of the award-winning Italian aid worker. “A woman who shunned publicity and took no payment for her work, (Tonelli) was a symbol of courage, perseverance and hope in a war-torn region,” said Cox in a statement on Wednesday.
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The chief mediator of the Somali peace talks in Kenya, Bethuel Kiplagat, has said the technical committee of the talks will seek to bring back the faction leaders who had walked out on the talks earlier.
