Friday, January 21, 2011
On Wednesday, this week, hundreds of Mogadishu residents came out on the streets to participate in a large demonstration against Al-Shabaab. The demonstrators marched down roads in the government-controlled districts of the city, chanting anti Al-Shabaab slogans, carrying placards: “We don’t want the mad and cruel militants” and “Stop harassing, stop intimidating people; open access for needy Somalis to get assistance.”
They were expressing their feelings at the way Al Shabaab has persistently prevented international aid agencies from helping those suffering from the country’s severe drought and needlessly expelled those trying to provide humanitarian assistance to the hundreds of thousands of displaced people, many forced out of their homes by the activities of Al-Shabaab itself. The demonstrators called on the world to act quickly to help the Somali Transitional Federal Government dislodge Al-Shabaab militants and assist those affected by drought. Warsame Mohammed Jodah, who addressed the demonstrators on behalf of the Benadir Administration, noted that the problems of internally displaced persons had increased dramatically in the last few years and particularly after Al-Shabaab banned more than 20 aid agencies from operating in southern and central Somalia.
This is the second public anti Al-Shabaab demonstration in Somalia in less than 48 hours. On Tuesday, dozens of local residents in the village of El-Arfid in the iddle Shebelle region of southern Somalia demonstrated after fighters loyal to Al-Shabaab burnt several bags of aid-donated maize. At least 50 local inhabitants were arrested by Al-Shabaab during the protest which went on to declare a curfew in the village. Al-Shabaab is also continuing to have problems over its relations with the former Hizbul Islam. Although Hizbul Islam has disbanded and supposedly joined Al-Shabaab, former Hizbul Islam officials are continuing to be arrested and jailed by Al-Shabaab as are many of Hizbul Islam’s fighters. Most recently the former spokesperson of Hizbul Islam in Mogadishu was arrested for allegedly refusing orders from Al-Shabaab to go to the lower Shebelle region.
In another development, the administration of Puntland has announced its withdrawal of support for the TFG in Mogadishu. The Puntland Government cited various reasons for its decision, including the TFG’s lack of implementation of the Galkayo accord of 23 August 2009 and the subsequent Memorandum of Understanding on Security Cooperation signed on 12 April 2010 as well as what it referred to as a lack of Puntland participation and representation in the Djibouti Peace Process. The Prime Minister of the TFG, Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed, said on Wednesday that the decision was regrettable because it could give moral support to Al Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s proxy in southern Somalia.
He pointed out that if Al Shabaab managed to seize southern Somalia, Puntland and other self-styled administrations would be their next targets. The Prime Minister said the decision would hinder the government’s efforts to bring peace back to the country. He noted that his government was committed to open negotiations with Puntland, but he added the announcement to suspend all cooperation with Mogadishu was a decision of the leadership of Puntland and not the people. This triggered a protest from the people in Garowe the following day. This will make much needed negotiations between Puntland and the TFG more difficult, if not impossible. The TFG Prime Minister has just been in New York where he met various UN officials and representatives of government. He was soliciting support for the TFG to complete the transitional tasks entrusted to it before the end of the transition period in August this year. He was also looking for support for extending the TFG’s mandate beyond August but it appears that most of the international community showed little or no enthusiasm for the idea.
Meantime, the Speaker of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP), Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, is currently on a visit to Addis Ababa following an invitation extended to him by the Speaker of Ethiopia’s House of People’s Representatives, Abadula Gemeda. Speaker Sharif Hassan will hold various meetings with officials of the House of Representatives during his stay to discuss further collaboration and cooperation between the TFP and Ethiopia’s Parliament.
Meanwhile, the Joint Security Committee established in accordance with the Djibouti agreement held a meeting in Djibouti this week. The Committee presented an activity report covering the period from August 2010 to January 2011. The Committee underlined the need to further strengthen the TFG security forces to enable them to defeat Al-Shabaab and other terrorists on the ground. The Committee recommended that the TFG should exert all efforts to reorganize the various elements of the security forces trained in different places and create a conducive environment for their coordination and integration. It also urged the international community to assist in all the peaceful areas of the country and places where an administration was functioning with the provision of capacity building.
Providing support to the efforts of Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a in this respect was underlined as an important element to address the challenge posed by the terrorist groups. President Sheikh Sharif attended the Joint Security Committee meeting as did the UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon’s Special Representative for Somalia, Ambassador Mahiga. Ambassador Mahiga also inaugurated a program to train 500 Somali police in Djibouti with funding provided by the Government of Japan as part of UNPOS’ police project. He acknowledged the support of AMISOM’s Civil Police Unit and the Somali Police Force Senior Management Team and called the program “an outstanding example of support by regional actors”. (MoFA)