Monday, February 16, 2009

EXCLUSIVE-INTERVIEW-Somalia's new PM wants to talk to insurgents

Somalia's new Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said in an interview he wants to meet hardline Islamist insurgents and use dialogue to end violence that has plagued the country for nearly two decades.

Sharmarke, the Western-educated son of an assassinated former leader, was chosen by Somalia's new president last week to form an inclusive government to unite and bring peace to the Horn of Africa nation.

Analysts say Sharmarke, who worked for the United Nations in Sierra Leone and Sudan, along with moderate Islamist President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, are offering a new political dynamic that could rescue Somalia from its downward spiral.

The main threat to stability comes from the hardline Islamist rebel group al Shabaab, which is fighting the Western-backed government and wants to impose its strict version of Islamic law throughout the country.

"We need to know what the argument of al Shabaab to fight today is, what kind of argument they can use even to reject either the president or me," Sharmarke, 48, told Reuters in an interview late on Sunday.

"I don't think there is any case for them to fight today and we call on them to actually look at where the country has been for the last 18 years. And, definitely, we are trying to sit and talk with them," he said.

Washington says al Shabaab is al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia and the group is known to have foreign fighters in its ranks. It has gained support, and territory, over the past two years as it fought Ethiopian troops propping up the government.

Islamist rebels have already denounced Sharmarke as an "illegitimate" imposition from abroad.

INCLUSIVE GOVERNMENT

The Ethiopians, however, pulled out in January and Ahmed has said al Shabaab no longer has any justification for its fight. Analysts say the new president may have some sway given he was a leader of the Islamists chased from power by the Ethiopians.

"We are trying to form a government that reflects the realities of today. And we are trying to emphasise three major things: a government that is actually competent to tackle the political, security and economic issues that we are facing today," said the prime minister.

"We will try to invite anyone, any political group, any person outside the (peace) process, willing to talk," he said. "And I will try to accommodate and make this government as inclusive as possible."

But Sharmarke -- who was endorsed on Saturday by parliament meeting in neighbouring Djibouti due to security concerns at home -- said the government was not prepared to talk to any organisations from outside Somalia.

He said both the insurgency and piracy off the coast could be dealt with easily if the root causes -- a lack of government, basic services and high youth unemployment -- were tackled.

"I am not saying that piracy will stop right away. I think we will reduce it, and we are definitely trying to establish and consolidate state authorities," he said.

However, Sharmarke said the international community should curb illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste in Somalia's waters, the reason some pirates say they first took up arms.

Despite the daunting tasks facing the new administration, Sharmarke was confident it would make progress.

"After we establish the government in Mogadishu, we will consolidate state authorities and extend government control to Mogadishu and throughout the country. And I think there is a window of opportunity, there is momentum."

"When Somalia gets out of this, and gets a government again, Somalis will come together and form their Somali state." (Writing by David Clarke; Editing by Louise Ireland and Daniel Wallis)

Source: Reuters

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