Peace in Somalia is not only possible but is 'relatively easy' to achieve, according to Ambassador Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, a veteran diplomat who has served as Mauritania's foreign minister and ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the European Union and the United States.
Since 2007, he has been the UN secretary-general's special representative for Somalia, a country that has not had a functioning government since the 1991 ouster of Mohamed Siad Barre, a dictator who was maintained in power during the Cold War by both the Soviet Union and United States, successively.
With violence intensifying and the humanitarian situation deteriorating, Ould-Abdallah says it is time for diplomatic and humanitarian efforts to move inside Somalia, relocating from neighboring Kenya where several thousand international civil servants are engaged in peace-keeping and delivering assistance to the nearly three million people dependent on outside assistance for food and other necessities.
Ould-Abdallah wants the UN Security Council to create a secure zone inside the beleaguered Somali capital of Mogadishu – similar to what was done in Iraq and Afghanistan – so that the United Nations operations he directs, as well as the international NGOs delivering aid, can operate inside the strife-torn country. He was interviewed in Nairobi by AllAfrica's Reed Kramer. Excerpts:
There is a widely shared perception that the Somali crisis is irresolvable. Do you share that view?
Not only don't I share this perception that the Somalia crisis is hopeless. On the contrary, I believe it is relatively easy to address. Those who think that the Somalia crisis is intractable, cannot be resolved, are victims of a great manipulation, put forward by a very smart, articulate alliance between a few Somalis, some foreigners and some organizations, in order for them to keep doing very lucrative business in total impunity. Business in studies/ projects, but also in trade especially imports/ exports, illegal fishing, piracy, etc.
You're saying some people are making a lot of money off the status quo?
Absolutely! The status quo provides a convenient cover for diverse and lucrative trade activities, drug and human trafficking, illegal fishing and dumping of waste, etc. for continued violations of human rights and pervasive impunity. Something has to be done about this situation by governments who care, including Africans - the members of IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development), and by international organizations concerned with global issues, the suffering of Somalia and by the risk of spillover to the neighboring countries and beyond.
What is the current humanitarian situation throughout Somalia?
On a people level, after 20 years of violence the situation is a disaster. I often feel frustrated in face of governments and civil society organizations tendency to ignore the abuse of human rights. There is no doubt that we should provide humanitarian assistance - food and medicine, etc. But we cannot forget the terrible human rights situation, the pervasive violations of human rights, the killing and maiming and the recruitment of child soldiers. We should not oppose humanitarian assistance to human rights. We need both. However, we should agree that impunity fuels instability, famine and misery. It is the root cause of many of Somalia's problems.
What steps need to be taken right now?
The first is to implement a consensus on the way forward. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made Somalia a priority. It has not been easy, due, in particular, to Somalia's negative international public image. There is also pure ignorance about Somalia realities. There are so many vested interests opposed to change, as mentioned early. Their interest is maintaining the status quo.
The way out is not to re-invent the wheel but to support the government in a tangible manner. "A bad Government is better than no Government," Hobbs reminded us centuries ago. "Without a government, life is brutish, nasty and short."
You see a central role for the Transitional Federal Government, headed by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, which was established by the 2008 Djibouti Agreement?
Yes, it is a legitimate government. Sheikh Sharif was president of the United Islamic Court from June to December 2006. He was elected openly in Djibouti in January 2009. He has many elements supporting him. We need to assist that government, not only diplomatically and politically, but with tangible support to help it prevail in service delivery, security and reaching out to other groups. This is a government which, at the international level, is equivalent in legal standing to the government in Afghanistan for example.
[The government of Sheikh Sharif] has been able to establish their own budget and to pay for significant infrastructure. The biggest mosque in Mogadishu has been rehabilitated. The rehabilitation of the Parliament House is underway, as well as the payment of a number of civil servants. The government has been requested by international partners to keep enlarging its political base, and it has reached out and signed an agreement with several traditional groups, including ASWJ (Ahlu Suna Wal Jamaa).
But let us not forget that some people are taking [up] arms because they have an international agenda. Some are fighting because it is a way of living for them - they are paid. Others do not know where to go, especially the young and the adolescents, so they join an armed group or migrate overseas. I think it is good that the government is trying to reach all those who are willing to talk.
Finally, some are funding the war because it helps them pursue their illegal business. They have transformed Somalia into a vast free trade-zone.
How do you rate the engagement of the international community in Somalia?
You have active as well as passive members of the international community. And you also have meddlers. Unfortunately, interference is part of today's conflict management. Some countries and individuals are always traveling like trade representative, with an international peace conference in their file for Congo or Sudan or indeed for Somalia.
The African Union is seriously committed, not just through its troops but also diplomatically. I see IGAD and its member states as a very positive and increasingly active external actor. So are Algeria, Burundi, Egypt, Libya, Sudan and many other non Africans.
Over the past 10-15 years a large number of countries have contributed financially to stability in Somalia. The European Union is providing a crucial contribution through the African Union and directly to Somalia. Italy is increasingly bringing flexibility to the rigidities of international assistance to Somalia. That helps. Norway is very helpful and innovative. Other contributors to the mechanism are China, Libya, Rwanda, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
The United States is playing an essential role, not only on the humanitarian side, where they provide 60 percent of the assistance. U.S. diplomatic support and the contribution through PriceWaterhouse Cooper are crucial.
My estimate is that a minimum of U.S.$8 billion dollars has been provided in various forms. It is legitimate for taxpayers in Africa and elsewhere to ask: 'Where is our money? Where are the results of such a massive assistance?' We cannot keep funding the management of the status quo.
Through PricewaterhouseCoopers, a mechanism was designed to manage and facilitate transparent payments made by the international community. A very positive step, which needs to be used to help bring flexibility and rapidity in disbursement of international assistance.
What is your response to the report alleging corruption in the World Food Programme in Somalia?
The World Food Program is an honorable and efficient agency. If they are seen as having a problem in distributing food in Somalia, it is because the international community has not put enough energy, time and money into reinforcing the government. A government is needed to help deliver humanitarian assistance, protect human rights and make Somalia a normal state.
What can be done about piracy?
Piracy [on the sea] is related to anarchy on land. It is primarily a criminal enterprise. Piracy is, in a way, easy to address. We know where the pirates are in and outside Somalia. The financiers behind this business - and piracy is a very profitable business - are known.
I think it is the responsibility of the Security Council and the most influential member states to address it seriously. The pirates are giving interviews to international networks, collecting vast resources, in millions of dollars per year, taking innocent sailors hostages and threatening freedom of trade and navigation. Sailors are deprived of their freedom.
Piracy is funding violence on land. Until December 2007 there were few acts of piracy and the ransom demands were in the tens of thousands of dollars. The Christmas 2007 payment of nearly U.S.$1 million for the release of two female hostages contributed to drastically increasing piracy and raising the ransom demands.
Do you see the solution lying principally in diplomatic efforts?
I don't believe in a single solution. I don't believe that it is all political or all military. We need both. There is a time when you have to stand up for principle and [there is] a time for compromise. We have to support the government politically, financially and militarily in order to help it negotiate a settlement. The government has to keep its door open for discussion - and they are doing that.
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We need focused support, not just one meeting after another. This is what is still lacking. The bottom line: an effective government in Somalia is needed. Dialogue is important, and all conflicts end with negotiation. However, freelance mediators and Google experts fuel wars with ill informed suggestions to hardliners. With a gun, each combatant has a veto power on the future of his country. Hence the question: when and where to stop the search for endless dialogue?
What needs to happen to end the stalemate and reverse deteriorating conditions? What steps can be taken by the United Nations and the international community?
We have to move closer to the situation on the ground, which means that the international community should gradually move its operations into Somalia. The Security Council may wish to give the minimum required to establish a temporary presence in a white zone or green zone in Mogadishu. Maintaining the status quo from Nairobi is not a credible option anymore.
There are 2,000-plus individuals from international organizations devoted to Somalia - based in Nairobi - between 500 and 600 UN staff, plus local staff of 1,200 to 1,500. If the non-governmental organizations are added, there are about 2,500 persons working only on Somalia in Kenya.
Their presence is useful in many aspects, but because they are not in Somalia we all are marginalized in many respects. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon is deeply concerned by the situation in Somalia, and I know he works hard with Under-Secretary-General Lynn Pascoe to move beyond the status quo. With them, I am sure the situation is on the right track.
The international community has been unclear about what its objectives are and what it is trying to achieve in Somalia. In my opinion, our objective is to help Somalia have a minimum government. It is not to manage the status quo or to keep analyzing the country. Something different has to be done, and that is possible.
