Islamist insurgents are being blamed for the death of a young girl and woman killed after a land mine exploded. The landmine marks the latest incident of attacks targeting a government convoy, official or building.
Francois Fall, the UN Somalia envoy, visited Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, where the National Reconciliation Conference has been in effect since July 15. The Conference, aimed at creating a peace process in Somalia, has been delayed twice due to attacks from Islamist insurgents who opposed the conference. Fall announced his support to the overall purpose of the Conference. Fall also promised that the UN and international community would provide whatever technical assistance is needed to maintain peace.
Fall further encouraged the chairman of the conference to allow all clans in Somalia to attend. Reports say that many of the key players in resolving the violence plaguing Somalia have not attended the Conference nor plan to attend. Some of the most prominent anti-government factions have boycotted the conference.
The most dominant clan in Mogadishu, the Hawiye, and Islamists were invited to attend the conference but rejected the invitation stating that they would not attend the conference until Ethiopian troops leave the country. The Ethiopians have stated that they will leave when the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force is big enough.
The AU has been unable to gain a foothold in the country. So far only 1,600 Ugandans are in Somalia as part of the AU force, Burundi which promised to send 2,000 troops has again delayed their deployment, and communication and transport equipments promised by the US and France have yet to arrive.
Without the key players, critics argue that very little has been resolved. One delegate at the conference has expressed his concern that if those who are fighting the government are not in attendance and not on board he sees nothing tangible will result from the conference. In fact, eight of the eleven point agenda has been discussed.
Despite criticism, the conference has seen some promising advances: elders of the five major clans exchanged copies of the Koran as symbol of forgiveness and the Somali government has promised to accept any resolution established by the conference.
For more information please see:
BBC – Burundi delays Somali deployment – 07 August 2007
Reuters – Somalis still talking, but peace elusive – 07 August 2007
YAhoo – U.N. envoy makes surprise Somalia visit – 07 August 2007
