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Somali Minister Says Contacted by U.S. on
Missiles and on Pirate Trials by France, Talks Cell Phones
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
April 15 -- "We
have a very close relations with both the United States and France,"
the
Somali Transitional
Federal Government's Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Jama told
the Press on Tuesday. "They are close and friendly states." Inner
City Press had asked about the firing of missiles into Somalia by the
U.S.,
whether the TFG is consulted before military action is undertaken.
"They
have contacted us," Ali Ahmed Jama replied. He was asked about the
killing
of civilians, both by the TFG and the Ethiopian troops who put the TFG
in power
in December 2006. He called the deaths unfortunate, and said the
Ethiopia does
everything possible to minimize collateral damage. That is not what
human
rights groups, and Inner City Press' sources on the ground, report. But
Ali
Ahmed Jama moved on, portraying those Somalis who criticize the
Ethiopian
presence as spoilers. In the front row of the press conference, the
UN's envoy
to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, nodded at this and other statements.
Inner
City Press asked how the TFG will respond to requests that the recently
captured pirates who took over a French yacht off the coast of Somalia
be tried
in France, thousands of kilometers away from where the crime occurred.
"They
have contacted us," was Ali Ahmed Jama's reply. He said that a
"holistic" process could "address the issues that France and
other powers are concerned with." Video here,
from Minute 23:31.
On
the ground in Somalia, some towns have passed back into the control of
the
insurgents or resistence. Ali Ahmed Jama was asked to respond to a
theory under
which the UN Security Council is holding back from committing
peacekeepers to
Somalia not only due to violence, but also from concern that the TFG is
"not stable." Ali Ahmed Jama
disagreed, said the Security Council "represents the whole world" and
should "tackle Somalia in a holistic manner."
TFG president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Louis
Michel under watchful eyes
The
president of the Security Council for April, South Africa's Dumisani
Kumalo,
continues to urge that the Council visit Mogadishu. He told Inner City
Press on
April 11 that he remains "very firm" about taking the trip, despite
recalcitrance from the UN Department of Safety and Security. "They are
not
happy about the idea that we won't go... I will be very disappointed if
I have
to go to a nice hotel in Kenya to talk about Somalia right over the
fence." Video here,
from Minute 7:48.
The
Transitional Federal Government, of course, was born
in Kenya, and only returned to Mogadishu backed by Ethiopian
troops...
Nodding
back at the UN's Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, Ali Ahmed Jama said that a
pamphlet has
been published about good indicators in Somalia, that the "Western
media" should cover more. He mentioned telecommunications, and this is
true. Whether the innovation is attributable to the TFG is dubious;
those on
the ground note that investment recommenced once the Islamic Courts
pushed out
the warlords. And what is happening now? We will continue
to follow this.
* * *
These reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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718-716-3540
Other,
earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available
in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright
2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request
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