In this issue:
* CONFERENCE LORDS
* EGYPT SENDING MORE TROOPS TO SOMALIA
____________________________________________________________________
S O M A L I A N E W S U P D A T E
____________________________________________________________________
Vol 2, No 31 October 27, 1993. ISSN 1103-1999
____________________________________________________________________
Somalia News Update is published irregularly via electronic mail and
fax. Questions can be directed to
[email protected] or
to fax number +46-18-151160. All SNU marked material is free to
quote as long as the source is clearly stated.
____________________________________________________________________
CONFERENCE LORDS
(SNU, Addis Ababa, October 27)The clash of the conferences has
reached fever pitch, with the parleylords squabbling over the
warlords. A diplomatic offensive by Ethiopian President Meles
Zenawi's Transitional Government has enlisted the support of Sudan,
Kenya and Djibouti for an "immediate" Somalia Reconciliation
Conference to be held in Mogadishu, to which all parties would be
invited. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali seems
to prefer Nairobi or Kenya, and has not made his position on the
participation of Mohamed Farah Aydiid clear, according to informed
sources.
Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin arrived back in Addis
Ababa yesterday after a regional tour and told the Ethiopian News
Agency that the date and the time of the Mogadishu conference was yet
to be decided, but that special Ethiopian envoys in Mogadishu were
making essential preparations to pave the way.
The UN Security Council should endorse the Addis Ababa accords,
which is acceptable to all Somali factional and party leaders, said
Ato (Mr) Seyoum, and stressed the contribution of countries in the
region and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in efforts to
bring a durable solution.
The key question of responsibility for the killing of 24
Pakistani peacekeepers in June, can only be identified by an
independent enquiry committee, according to the Ethiopian Minister.
However, despite confusion over the reconciliation conference,
the Foreign Minister expected a UN-led humanitarian conference to
take place in Addis Ababa in November.
The announcement follows inconclusive meetings at the weekend
between President Meles Zenawi and Boutros-Ghali and James Jonah,
another senior UN diplomat, famous for bungling the UN's role in
Somalia in 1991.
A fortnight of hectic diplomatic activity has seen the UN
attempting to wrest back the initiative from the regional powers and
the US and the regional governments, led by Ethiopia, insisting that
the Addis Ababa agreements are the only way forward. This has
resulted in the UN Secretary- General appearing more and more
petulant and parochial, while the OAU attempts to rehabilitee its
reputation by riding on the coattails of President Meles Zenawi's
diplomatic initiative.
EGYPT SENDING MORE TROOPS TO SOMALIA
(SNU/DPA, Cairo, October 25) Egypt made it known Monday that it was
increasing its military contribution to the U.N. peacekeeping force
in Somalia but said this should not be regarded as a substitute for
the U.S. contingent which will be withdrawn by next April.
The disclosure was made by Foreign Minister Amr Moussa in an
interview with the Cairo daily al-Ahram conducted in Washington and
published a few hours before President Hosny Mubarak's scheduled
tete-a-tete with U.S. President Bill Clinton later in the day.
Mussa would say only that the increased Egyptian contribution
was being effected at a request from the United Nations. He gave no
hint on the troop or hardware strength envisaged to bolster Egypt's
contingent, currently believed to comprise 500 soldiers.
Al-Ahram's report carried no direct quotes but made it clear
that the dispatch of troop reinforcements and hardware had already
begun.
The report said: "Mussa was asked about America's intention to
withdraw its contingent from Somalia, the U.N. request to Egypt to
increase its troop contribution there and whether this represented a
replacement for the American troops which will be withdrawn. He
denied that this represented a replacement, adding that the increase
in the Egyptian contribution is being undertaken within the existing
situation."
The possibility of deeper Egyptian military involvement in
neighbouring Somalia has been mooted indirectly in recent Cairo press
editorials.
The opposition daily al-Wafd has warned that Egypt may be
risking a debilitating involvement similar to its costly expedition
during the Yemen civil war in the 1960s. "We are not richer than
America," declared a recent front-page editorial in the mass-
circulation daily al-Akhbar.
Some members of parliament questioned earlier this year
Mubarak's decision to send troops abroad without prior parliamentary
authorization. But the Egyptian president enjoys sweeping powers
under the constitution making his decisions virtually unimpeachable.
Mubarak is also the current chairaman of the 52-nation
Organisation of African Unity. Last June's OAU summit in Cairo
envisaged in-house peacekeeping functions including the possible
dispatch of African peacekeeping forces to trouble spots, but no
moves have been taken so far in this direction because of lack of
finances.
The developments coincided with the planning for the "peace-
marches" conducted by the followers of Somali leader Mohamed Mahdi
who is backed by a number of other factions all on good terms with
Egypt. The marches ended in three days of blood-shed leaving 17
Somalis dead.
____________________________________________________________________
SNU is an entirely independent newsletter devoted to critical
analysis of the political and humanitarian developments in Somalia
and Somaliland. SNU is edited and published by Dr. Bernhard Helander,
Uppsala University, Sweden. SNU is produced with support from the
Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden.
____________________________________________________________________
