Norway supports Somalia ceasefire agreement

Norway welcomes and supports the ceasefire agreement reached in Djibouti this week by the parties in the long lasting Somalia conflict.

Friday, June 13, 2008

(Photo: State Secretary Raymond Johansen)

“The agreement is an important step towards reconciliation, and gives hope in a situation that is characterised by violence and increasing desperate conditions for the Somali people,” says Raymond Johansen, State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Norway has supported the UN Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, in his work, and was represented in Djibouti by a member of the Nairobi Embassy staff. The official signing is planned to take place in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia next weekend.

“Mr Ould-Abdallah has done an important job in building the necessary confidence between the parties, which made it possible to hold direct talks in Djibouti.

“The parties have shown courage in sitting down to talk together, and have an important task ahead in creating ownership of the agreement among the other relevant groups in the country. I would also underline that an agreement has to be followed up with action if it is to be anything more than just a piece of paper. Now it is decisive that all the parties in Somalia put consideration for the Somali people first, and implement the agreement,” Mr Johansen continued.

Under the agreement, the parties have committed themselves to do all in their power to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches those in need, and have requested that a donor conference for Somalia is held in the next six months. Getting assistance out to the two million people who are in need of acute emergency relief is absolutely vital in order to address the very serious humanitarian situation in the country.

The main element of the agreement is a ceasefire between the Transitional Federal Government and the opposition group Reliberation of Somalia (ARS) and their respective allies, which will come into force one month after the agreement is signed. The ceasefire will initially last for three months, but can subsequently be renewed. The parties have requested the UN to authorise and deploy a stabilisation force within 120 days, which would make it possible for Ethiopian forces to withdraw from Somalia.

Source: Norway Post, June 13, 2008