Addis Ababa
07 July 2008
Somalia's Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein is appealing to insurgentIslamists to join the peace deal signed by the transitional governmentand some moderate opposition groups last month in Djibouti. VOA'sPeter Heinlein in Addis Ababa reports Mr. Hussein condemned Somalia'suncontrolled violence, which since the accord was signed has claimedthe lives of aid workers, a journalist, and a senior U.N. official.
Amidanarchy in large parts of Mogadishu, and a joint Somali-Ethiopianmilitary force waging a counter-insurgency offensive, Somalia's interimprime minister is urging hardline Islamists to end their campaign ofviolence.
Speaking to reporters at the end of a three-dayvisit to the Ethiopian capital, Nur Hassan Hussein called on themilitant Al-Shabab group to seize the opportunity created by lastmonth's U.N.-brokered peace agreement.
"The agreement signed inDjibouti is the key and opens the door to peace so anyone can join, anyorganization opposing the government of today, there is a window ofopportunity to join," Hussein said.
Many Somalis andpolitical analysts say the Djibouti accord has been discredited byviolence from groups like al-Shabab, which is committed to overthrowingthe Ethiopian-backed transitional government and establishing Islamicrule. But Prime Minister Hussein argued that the agreement has provided aflicker of hope by bolstering the more moderate Alliance for theRe-Liberation of Somalia, which signed the June 9 accord.
"Ithink today the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia are alsotrying their best to enlarge their constituency, so together theparties signing this agreement have a good opportunity to attractothers," he said. "But if, like Al Shabab, they are rejecting the peace,the people, hoping the situation of 18 years ending and a new pagebeing started, that will help the parties signing the agreement."
Mr.Hussein condemned the killing, kidnapping and harassment ofhumanitarian aid workers, in particular the shooting death of the headof the United Nations Development Program office. UNDP chief Osman AliAhmed was gunned down at close range Sunday evening as he returned homefrom evening prayers at a mosque in Mogadishu.
The United Nations has described Somalia as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Onemillion Somalis, or more than 10 percent of the population, are livingas internal refugees, and the group Doctors Without Borders saysmalnutrition in the horn of Africa country has exceeded emergency ratesfor a year.
Ethiopian troops entered Somalia 20 months ago tohelp the interim government fight an Islamist movement that wasthreatening to take over the country.
The Mogadishu-basedElman Peace and Human Rights Organization estimates more than 2,100Somali civilians have been killed this year, bringing the civiliandeath toll to 8,600 since early last year.