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Misanet.com / IPS, 21 November - The newly established provisional government in Somalia has embarked on a project of redeeming the international image of the war ravaged country, despite numerous challenges it faces from warlords at home. Top government officials travelling to neighbouring countries, in their publicity campaign, paint a picture of a country struggling to get back on its feet, after a decade of bloodshed and chaos. At home they face the stiff challenge of winning over factions controlling parts of the country and two self-styled "governments" in the north, which want to secede from Somalia. - We want to spread the word that Somalia is back to normal, Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galer, who is on an official visit to Kenya, said in Nairobi. "There are no organised groups challenging the new government. Those young fellows still causing trouble, are those who have no other source of income besides their guns," he told journalists on arrival in the Kenyan capital.
It is hoped in the Yemeni talks, that the new government will secure the support of major faction leaders Hussein Aideed and Osman Ali Ato, who are yet to recognise the new government. Foreign Minister Harreh Aduba, who has been visiting the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, to iron out the "suspicions" between the two countries, pledging that his government would do all it can to remove elements bent on destabilising Ethiopia from its territory. "We covered areas of concern to both countries and virtually agreed on all points," he was quoted in Nairobi as saying. Since the 1970s, Somalia's neighbours have felt threatened by the country's ambitions to carve out a "greater Somalia" from parts of northern Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia. The 1970s Ogden War, in which Somali troops invaded the region in south eastern Ethiopia, strengthened Kenyan-Ethiopian relations, even though the two countries had been in different ideological camps. Its lack of government posed an even bigger security threat in the Horn of Africa region. The state of Somalia collapsed in 1991, after the overthrow of President Saïd Barre, breaking the country into warlord controlled fiefdoms. The southern part of the country has been a scene of chaos and insecurity as rival factions fight for control over key economic sectors. The establishment of the new government at an inter-clan meeting hosted by Djibouti, came as a relief to Somalia's neighbours affected by its instability. The Kenyan government, which has been dealing with an influx of illegal small arms into its territory channelled through Somalia, has already extended recognition to the new government. Last week, the Kenyan capital was a hive of activity as Somali delegates met with United Nations experts, donors and aid agencies to discuss the demobilisation of thousands of militiamen and their re-integration into the Somali society. The workshop, 'Demobilisation and Re-Integration Programmes in Somalia' presented successful case studies of demobilisation from other African countries like Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Angola. - It is the first time we, as the international community, have sat down to listen to the concrete experiences of the people themselves, to my knowledge, said Jeremy Brickhill, the organiser of the workshop on behalf of the United Nations and the Somali Aid Co-ordination Body (SABC). Several groups of militia operate in Somalia, with at least five distinct groups identified, including those who work for the business community, Islamic courts, faction leaders, sub-clans and freelance militias who often engage in criminal activities like robbery, kidnapping and setting up of illegal roadblocks. - These are the men we need to reach. If they can be brought back into their communities, in productive ways, Somalia will be a safer, more prosperous place, Brickhill notes. The task, as Rudolf Kent, UN resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia suggests, will not be an easy one. "We now have an important opportunity to support peace and reconciliation in Somalia, but a difficult task lies ahead. Now is the time for Somalia's international friends to support Somalis' struggle for peace in a real and tangible way," he said in Nairobi. It is also hoped the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Drought (IGAD), which has been concerned with peace negotiations in the region, will declare its support for the new Somali government in a meeting later this week in Khartoum, Sudan. By Judith Achieng
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Elsewhere, a different delegation, which has been visiting Ethiopia, is moving on to Yemen, Somalia's major trading partner, where they are to join the Somali President Abiqassim Salad Hassan in the campaign.
