afrol News, 7 March - The UN Security Council today said it would consider a more important role in Somalia to help support the country's still exiled authorities to re-establish a central government in Mogadishu. Given donor support from UN member states, the UN could expand its role and presence in Somalia, the Security Council said.

UN presence in Somalia is very limited due to the chronic insecurity in the war-torn country. Ironically, most UN agencies are present in the breakaway republic of Somaliland and the autonomous province of Puntland, were peace and order is secured. UN presence in Mogadishu and southern Somalia - where needs are greatest - is close to nothing.

Today's signals from the UN Security Council therefore are new. The Council welcomed the "ongoing relocation efforts" [to Mogadishu] of the Nairobi-based Somali transitional government, saying it "expects further progress in this regard." For that to happen, however, Somalia needed "the international community to provide strong political, financial and capacity-building support for these efforts," the Council said.

An expanding role for the UN in Somalia thus would be natural. More resources were needed for reconstruction, especially for those efforts coordinated by UN agencies, the Council added. The UN in particular is foreseeing a greater role in reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

Improving the humanitarian situation was essential to forging peace and reconciliation, and ensuring access to Somalis in need and guaranteeing the safety and security of humanitarian aid workers was an immediate priority and obligation of the Somali government, the Security Council said.

Winston Tubman, the head of the UN Political Office in Somalia (UNPOS), told a news conference earlier today, before briefing the Security Council, that an expanded UN presence in the Horn of Africa country could help Somalis implement their agreements and coordinate regional and international backing for the peace process.

The UN also could chair a Coordination and Monitoring Committee, as well as play a leading political role in the peace building that is still needed, he said. "The capital, Mogadishu, is particularly insecure. We cannot say that either peace or reconciliation has been achieved, or that the fighting inside Somalia has ceased. At the same time, a fledgling peace process has pointed to a way out of the morass," Mr Tubman said.

Calling attention "to a very dramatic moment taking place in Somalia today," he said the government's leaders had visited Somalia, "testing the waters." According to Mr Tubman, "they were warmly received by the Somali people while on a brief tour last week, conceived as part of a phased-in return."

According to a recent report on the country by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Mr Tubman said, the UN was willing to offer advice on organising immediate negotiations for a comprehensive ceasefire, was calling for the strengthening of the arms embargo and was prepared to support the AU in planning a protection force.

On that last aspect of national security, he added, "Although some Somalis have expressed concerns and reservations, we hope their concerns can be addressed and their reservations overcome." Many Somalis have protested the participation of Ethiopian troops in a planned peacekeeping mission by the African Union (AU).

The prevailing insecurity was preventing the UN from implementing post-tsunami programmes in large areas of the country. "With better security, we can reach many more people in need," Mr Tubman said. The UNPOS head added that the briefing was his last because he was resigning from the UN to become politically active in his own country, Liberia.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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