Factional fighting flared up in war-torn Somalia even as preparations for a Somali national reconciliation conference in Kenya are stalled, writes Gamal Nkrumah The escalation of factional violence in Somalia, coupled with unsettling tensions in the Horn of Africa, cast a long shadow of doubt over efforts to bring about peace in the war-torn country. Consequently, a flurry of diplomatic activity is currently underway to facilitate the early convening an all-encompassing Somali national reconciliation conference in which the Transitional Somali Government (TNG) and warlords opposed to the TNG are to participate. With hopes for peace in neighbouring Sudan pinned on the results of negotiations in Kenya, the Somalis are eager to emulate the Sudanese example. But Somalia's problems are radically different from those of the Sudanese. In Somalia, the main challenge is a complete breakdown of law and order and the inability of the TNG to control the situation even in the capital Mogadishu. A fresh round of factional fighting broke out last Monday in Medina, a new suburb southwest of the Somali capital. The violence claimed the lives of at least 50 people and hundreds were reported injured. Most of the casualties were civilians caught up in the violence. The fight first started between forces loyal to Mogadishu warlord Musa Sudi Yalahow and those of his former ally Omar Filish. The two men broke ranks last December, and this is the third time that fighting erupted between their militias since. On Tuesday the United Nations attempted to tighten the arms embargo imposed on Somalia in a desperate bid to stop the flow of arms and ammunition. Existing UN measures have failed in the past, largely because of Somalia's porous borders and the ineffectiveness of the transitional government installed in 2000 after a Somali national reconciliation conference in Arta, Djibouti. Weapons from the United States, Eastern Europe, Libya, Iran and other Gulf countries have found their way to Somalia either directly or through Somalia's neighbours -- Yemen, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya. The region is awash with arms and weapons are openly sold in the country's markets. Most Somali men own firearms and an automatic rifle can be bought for the price of a chicken. Somalia has been torn apart by factional fighting and has not had an effective government since 1991. Somalis voice concern about the desertion of the Somali people by international opinion. The discovery of oil in commercial quantities has had a positive impact on the peace process in Sudan. In Somalia, which has no vast oil reserves, the civil war threatens to drag on endlessly. The Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), a regional organisation which groups seven East African countries, including Somalia and its immediate neighbours Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya, spearheads regional attempts at ensuring peace in Somalia. The three aforementioned countries have taken a special interest in bringing about national reconciliation in Somalia. Nevertheless, the TNG charges that Ethiopia, with a large and restive ethnic Somali population, has a vested interest in fomenting trouble in Somalia. With Ethiopian backing, Ethiopia's Somali allies banded together to form the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) set up as a rival administration to the TNG. Among the most prominent of the SRRC warlords is Hussein Aidid -- son of the warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid who in 1993 masterminded America's most disastrous firefight loss since the Vietnam War. Kenya, originally scheduled to host a peace conference next week in which Somali government officials and SRRC leaders will participate, is viewed as a less prejudiced arbitrator than the Ethiopians. While some SRRC leaders might attend, others like Aidid have so far declined to participate in the Kenya conference. The Somali national reconciliation conference will be meaningless without the participation of warlords like Aidid. The Kenyan government, heavily involved in peace efforts in Sudan, is keen on assisting in the Somali peace process as well. Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi hopes that an enlarged transitional government is created that will include disgruntled SRRC members. The Ethiopians back him on this issue. No specific date has been set for the Somali reconciliation conference to be hosted by Kenya, but it was originally scheduled for the end of July or early August. The date was then tentatively changed to September. The purpose of the proposed conference is to bring together all factions and establish peace and a broad-based government. While Kenya, along with the African Union and Arab League, acknowledges the TNG as a de facto Somali government, Ethiopia does not. "The TNG controls no territory, has no real power. Ethiopia is realistic. We don't want to entertain illusions. However, we appeal to all parties, including the TNG and the warlords, to sit together and iron out their differences," Ethiopia's ambassador to Egypt Girma Amare told Al-Ahram Weekly. Ethiopia, he insisted was essentially interested in bringing all rival Somali parties to form a broad-based all- inclusive Somali government. "No party should put forward conditionalities," he stressed. "The TNG must attend the conference as an equal partner. Nobody can dictate from the outside to Somalis," Ambassador Amare added. "Ethiopia is acting within the framework of IGAD. Ethiopia was also mandated by the AU to find a solution to the Somali political crisis." Three of Somalia's neighbours -- Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya -- have been given the mandate at the last IGAD summit in Khartoum to organise a Somali national reconciliation conference for the establishment of a broad-based and an all-inclusive government for Somalia. Kenya has been given the overall responsibility of co-ordinating the efforts of the three countries. And, "Ethiopia is determined to ensure that the IGAD effort will succeed. All Somali parties, and that includes the TNG, need to be told in no uncertain terms that there is no alternative to the IGAD peace process," Ambassador Amare said. "Ethiopia respects the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Somalia and maintains that there must be one Somali state," he assured. Ethiopia, therefore, refrained from recognising any of the self-styled independent entities such as Somaliland and Puntland. Ethiopian businessmen and traders, however, maintain commercial links with these entities and travel there frequently. "Ethiopia calls on all Somali parties to prepare for the upcoming national reconciliation conference with all the necessary goodwill. They need to go to the conference without conditionalities. It is just not possible for any Somali party to impose a solution on the rest without give and take and without mutual accommodation and compromise," Amare said. Similarly, foreign powers cannot dictate their terms to the Somali people. "No outside party, including Ethiopia, has the capacity or the desire to bully the various Somali parties to accept the TNG as an all-inclusive broad-based government," he added. Ambassador Amare said that the allegation that Ethiopia was manipulating rival Somali factions and sowing the seeds of discord in Somalia was a "TNG fabrication". He said that Somalia has rather been a breeding ground for terrorism, narcotics smuggling and arms trafficking, and that it is in Ethiopia's interest to have a peaceful and politically stable Somalia. The Somali TNG naturally rejects this logic and accused Addis Ababa to the United Nations of fomenting trouble in the Gedo region in particular where the TNG claims that fighting erupted between various Somali clans after incursions by the Ethiopian army into the area. Members of the warring clans escaped the fighting in Gedo and fled to the Kenyan town of Mandera where the borders of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia intersect. Humanitarian relief agencies have warned recently of the plight of the thousands of Somali refugees in the area. "Ethiopia arms to the teeth the different Somali opposition factions. The TNG has appealed to the Ethiopian authorities to stop interfering in domestic Somali affairs," Abdallah Hassan Mahmoud Somalia's ambassador to Egypt and permanent representative at the Arab League told the Weekly. He added that even though the TNG had originally objected to Ethiopia participating in the Nairobi conference because of its meddling in Somali internal affairs, the TNG has now dropped that precondition and does not object to Ethiopian participation at the conference. It has become obvious that unless the underlying tensions between Ethiopia and TNG are ironed out, it will be very difficult to convene a successful Somali national reconciliation conference. Some form of compromise must be reached whereby the TNG acknowledges the legitimate concerns of Ethiopia, and in return Addis Ababa recognises the TNG for what it is -- an interim administration. The mediating efforts of regional bodies such as the AU and the Arab League are, therefore, prerequisite. "The well-being and stability of the Horn of Africa is an important factor for the stability and security of the rest of Africa, the Middle East and the Arab world in particular," Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa said on a recent visit to Ethiopia. "We [Arab countries] are not at odds with Ethiopia or working in opposite directions," Moussa added. Somalia is a member of the Arab League, and efforts by the pan-Arab body to resolve the Somali political impasse have gained momentum in the past couple of months. Calls for strengthening relations between Ethiopia and Arab countries have also been growing louder recently. Arab ambassadors accredited to Ethiopia, organised the first Ethio-Arab cultural week in Addis Ababa (7-13 June) in conjunction with the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry. The cultural event, unfortunately largely ignored by the Arab media, attempted to draw attention to Ethiopia with its big market of 65 million people as a potential magnet for Arab investors. The organisers of the Ethio-Arab week also sought to foster business and trade relations between Ethiopia and the Arab world, Ambassador Amare told the Weekly.
