Egyptian efforts to stop fighting in Somalia
Somalia-Egypt, Politics, 4/2/2007

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Sunday sent urgent messages to regional and international parties concerned with Somalia, urging them to immediately take action to put an end to the fighting raging in Somalia.

Within this context, Abul-Gheit sent messages to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Chairman of the African Union Commission Alpha Omar Konare and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

The Foreign Minister said Egypt is following up the current military clashes in Somalia which erupted four days ago and claimed the lives of a number of people of the sisterly African country.

Foreign troops' presence in Somalia without the support of the Somali people complicates the situation there, especially with the absence of any future political solution, Abul Gheit made it clear.

Egypt is prepared to offer political support to get the Somali people out of their current political predicament, Abul Gheit noted.

The Foreign Minister called on the Somali parties to resort to direct dialogue to settle their differences and reach a national reconciliation on all national issues.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said about Somalia, where fighting between the Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government and Islamists has led to dozens of deaths and injuries in recent days, that he hoped the government would be able to convene the national reconciliation congress scheduled for 16 April. “The international community should continue to encourage the Transitional Federal Government’s efforts,” he added.

Violence in the capital has increased since the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), backed by Ethiopian forces, dislodged the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) from Mogadishu and much of the rest of the country at the end of last year. Mortar rounds and other fire have since killed many civilians in residential areas and settlements housing 250,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).

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