Somalia Contact Group Meets for first time

[Grant]

Somalia Contact Group Meets for First Time
- By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, June 15, 2006


(06-15) 19:46 PDT UNITED NATIONS, (AP) --


A U.S.-organized group of nations concerned about the rise of Islamic factions in Somalia lent its support Thursday to the country's weak interim government and demanded free access so aid groups can help the impoverished Somali people.


The first meeting of the International Somalia Contact Group was one of the few major international initiatives toward the nation in the years since U.N. peacekeepers withdrew in 1995. The United States pushed to find a new solution as the Islamic groups gained the upper hand over secular warlords Washington has reportedly backed.


In its meeting, the group urged dialogue between the government and the Islamic militants who have taken over the capital Mogadishu and other areas of the lawless country after months of fighting that killed more than 330. U.S. officials fear the Islamic groups are harboring al-Qaida members and other terrorists.


World leaders had been baffled about whom to approach in the past, with the transitional government sidelined and various factions quickly gaining and losing power.


"The reality is that unless you have some form of peace agreement and some form of peace, there's nothing to stabilize, there's nothing to get a grip on," Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said.


A statement agreed to at the end of the meeting reaffirmed that Somalia's transitional government and the charter it abides by were a "legitimate and viable framework" for resurrecting the country.


That could give a boost to the government that recently moved to the country from Kenya but whose control has been limited to the town of Baidoa, 155 miles northwest of Mogadishu.


The contact group called on all parties in Somalia to give "unrestricted access" to relief agencies, and implicitly recognized the Islamic militants' power by demanding that they be included in discussions over the nation's future.


"We're calling for dialogue between the powers that are in Mogadishu," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazier, who co-chaired the meeting. "Both sides have said that they're willing and ready to reach out, so we're urging them to do so as a matter of highest priority."


Frazier repeated the U.S. government stance that Washington never supported the warlords in their fight against the Islamic groups, but had offered support to those people in Somalia who could help capture al-Qaida members and other terrorists.


Asked if the U.S. could now work with the Islamic groups, Frazier replied: "We don't know whether we can, we're not ruling that in or out. We will know that by their action."


That suggested that the United States may not see the Islamic groups — led by one faction called the Islamic Court Union — as threat they were earlier perceived to be. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack had said earlier Thursday that the group had turned to the U.S. directly with a letter.


Several diplomats described the meeting as a bid to come up with a new strategy for dealing with Somalia. For now, that would most likely mean deferring to the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a group of seven Horn of Africa nations that includes Somalia.


The international community turned away from the country after a 1993 battle that killed 18 U.S. troops — the basis for the "Black Hawk Down" book and movie — and a U.N. peacekeeping mission ended in failure in 1995.


Osama bin Laden considered the subsequent withdrawal of U.S. troops from Somalia his first victory against America.


The new group consists of the United States, Britain, Sweden, Norway, Tanzania, Italy and the European Union, with the U.N. and the African Union as observers. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the League of Arab States will also be invited as observers in the future.


The interim government welcomed the call for dialogue with the Islamic groups but said it wants an easing of an arms embargo and a donor's conference for Somalia.


"The Somalia Contact Group should not be a forum for discussion only but a forum that will provide specific projects and programs that will contribute to peace and security in Somalia," said Idd Beddel Mohamed, the interim government's deputy U.N. ambassador.


Some European officials have said an arms embargo on Somalia should be eased so its government can develop a police force and army.


U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan suggested he was opposed to the idea of loosening the arms embargo.


URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... 624D20.DTL


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©2006 Associated Press