DJIBOUTI SAID CLEARLY NO TO FOREIGN TROOPS

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Deployment of foreign peacekeepers in Somalia - proposed by the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development - was premature and could make matters worse, Djibouti's Foreign Minister, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, said.

"Djibouti's position is that the main parties in Somalia have embarked on a process of dialogue," Yusuf told IRIN on Wednesday. "Let's give that process a chance before we introduce foreign forces."

Representatives of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which controls the capital Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia, and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) agreed on 22 June to recognise each other and engage in dialogue. The parties undertook to meet again on 15 July. However, this meeting did not take place because the TFG boycotted it, accusing the UIC of violating the previous accord.

Youssouf said it was likely the two sides would resume their talks "in the next few days". Therefore, the deployment of peacekeepers in a situation where "one main player on the scene is opposed to it, is, in our opinion, unwise", he said. A deployment under such conditions "could complicate the situation and make matters worse", he added.

The UIC is opposed to foreign troop deployment in Somalia, saying "Somalia at this point does not need foreign forces".

In a recent interview with IRIN, UIC Chairman Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said: "What Somalis need today is assistance in holding consultations, negotiating with each other and resolving their differences by talking to each other."

The Djibouti minister said his country, "in principle", was in favour of peacekeepers, "but we need to give the Somalis time to [reach] consensus". He was confident that once the Somali parties start talking, "they may surprise us all and start working together".

He said Djibouti, in line with the rest of the international community, recognised the TFG and wanted to see it functioning: "That is why we want to encourage dialogue to make that a reality."

Meanwhile, the Sana'a Forum for Cooperation (SFC) has called on the UIC to stop its military activities. The SFC encompasses Ethiopia, Yemen, Sudan and Somalia. In a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting on Wednesday in Addis Ababa, the SFC called on "all parties [in Somalia] to put the interest of Somalia at [the top] of their agendas" and "stop any outside interference in Somalia's affairs".

Source IRIN