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Hardline Islamists key to Somali peace: think tank
Nairobi (AFP) Dec 24, 2008 Somalia's embattled government and the world community should reach out to all Islamist groups to ensure stability as the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops draws near, a top think tank has urged. The withdrawal due by the year end has sparked security fears in Somalia, where an African Union force has failed to stem the violence and Islamist fighters have regained much of the territory they lost to the Ethiopian-backed government forces in 2007. The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) warned in a report Tuesday that Somalia's transitional government was on the brink of collapse and could be overtaken yet again by an Islamist insurgency. Although the Ethiopian pull-out "opens a new period of uncertainty and risk, (it) also provides a chance to launch an all inclusive political process," said the report: "Somalia: To Move Beyond Failed State." "Despite the reluctance of the international community to engage with the Islamist opposition, there is no other practical course to reach out to its leaders in a effort to stabilise the security situation," the group said. The Somali government and the moderate Islamist-dominated Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) have greed a power-sharing deal and a ceasefire under UN-mediated talks held in Djibouti. However, radical members led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys -- designated terrorists by the United States -- have rejected the agreement as well as hardline Shebab, a militant Islamist wing fighting in Somalia. "There is reason to believe that despite radical posturing, a significant majority in the Islamist insurgency would engage in a political dialogue that does not seek to criminalise it and offers them a role in future government," the report said. The Islamist movement was crushed by the Ethiopian forces who rolled into Somalia in late 2006 to prop up an embattled interim government, but remnant elements have waged relentless war ever since. Civilians have borne the worst brunt of the clashes, mainly in the capital Mogadishu, between the rival forces and displacing hundreds of thousand others from. Infighting in the government has frustrated attempts to restore normalcy, with President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein being been at odds over the reconciliation attempts with the ARS. Last week, Yusuf sacked Hussein and replaced him with a little known lawmaker, who announced his resignation on Wednesday. Yusuf has become a "liability for the country's survival and should be encouraged to resign," said the ICG. Related Links Africa News - Resources, Health, Food
Guinea's mutinous soldiers angered by get-rich generals
Conakry (AFP) Dec 23, 2008Divisions in the Guinea military between generals who linked themselves to late president Lansana Conte and ordinary troops who felt abused may explain why an army captain led an attempted coup there Tuesday, analysts said. |
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