The UN top envoy for Somalia Friday lauded progress made in the past month by the new government of the Horn of Africa country, which has been torn by factional strife since the overthrow of Siad Barre in 1991.
In a statement issued in Nairobi, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon' s Special Representative Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah encouraged the Somali Government of National Unity to continue working towards peace and stability and urged Somalis and the international community to support it.
"President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the Speaker and Prime Minister have demonstrated responsible leadership in all fields and the unity Government is now functioning from the capital," said Ould-Abdallah said in a statement.
"I am pleased by the number of patriotic Parliamentarians who have returned to Mogadishu to start their work. Both branches of the administration need concrete diplomatic and material assistance."
The formation of the government last month, and its return to the violence-plagued capital, Mogadishu, followed on the 2008 UN-facilitated Djibouti Agreement between the Transitional Federal Government and the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, in which the two agreed to end their conflict.
Ould-Abdallah called for concrete diplomatic and material assistance for both branches of the administration.
"The Council of Ministers has met a number of times and passed important measures, including on the implementation of Sharia Law.
"All these developments will not only help the move towards normality inside the country, but will also help secure Somalia's image and reputation abroad. There is now absolutely no excuse for any Somali to continue plotting to destroy more Somali lives."
Ould-Abdallah said that planning was underway for the next meeting of the High Level Committee, which was tasked to look at issues including political cooperation and justice and reconciliation. He added that there would also be a meeting of theJoint Security Committee shortly.
"I am happy to see a vast majority of Somalis working together for the first time in many years to take the primary responsibility for their own future," he said.
"The international community must do its part to fully support the new Government. This help is not needed at some point in the future, but right now. There is no alternative to supporting this administration, and through it, the people.
The envoy said President Ahmed has received offers of support from Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere and that this is extremely encouraging.
"Somalia is now fully back on the international agenda and will be discussed at the Security Council on March 20 and at the upcoming League of Arab States Summit in Qatar," he said.
Source: xinhuanet
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