From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Jul 18 2008 - 22:19:25 EDT
Somalia's Islamic Courts factions 'acknowledge' Djibouti peace accord
18 Jul 18, 2008 - 5:19:22 PM
DJIBOUTI PEACE ACCORD | The reconciliation meetings were held in Sana'a, Yemen, and attracted Islamist delegations from Eritrea and Djibouti.
SANAA, Yemen July 18 (Garowe Online) - A
weeks-long reconciliation process within the fractured Islamic Courts
movement ended this week, with both sides announcing a new agreement
that would end a public dispute among Somalia's Islamist leaders.
The
reconciliation meetings were held in Sana'a, Yemen, and attracted
delegations from Eritrea and Djibouti, where exiled Islamists have
lived since the Ethiopian intervention of late 2006.
Dahir Mohamud Ghelle, who spoke for the Djibouti-based Islamic Courts
wing, told reporters on Friday that the ceasefire clause, the
withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Somalia and their replacement by a
United Nations stabilization force were all hotly debated during
meetings in Yemen.
"We have
reached a final agreement…we have agreed to acknowledge the Djibouti
peace accord and to await its implementation," Mr. Ghelle said.
Officials from
the Eritrea-based Islamist faction have not addressed the media about
the Yemen talks, but one senior insider confirmed to Garowe Online
that an agreement had been reached.
According to Mr. Ghelle, t he Islamic Courts factions agreed to accept UN peacekeepers on the condition that they are from "Muslim countries."
On June 9, the
Prime Minister of Somalia's Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal
Government (TFG), Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein, signed a peace pact in
Djibouti with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, chairman of the Alliance for
the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), which is dominated by Islamists.
The peace
agreement called for a 90-day ceasefire to be implemented within one
month, while setting a timetable for Ethiopian troops to withdraw by
October 9 after being replaced by a "sufficient" number of UN
peacekeepers.
But the
agreement immediately stirred public divisions among Somalia's Islamist
factions, including within the ARS opposition alliance itself.
Sheikh Hassan
Dahir Aweys, the Islamists' exiled spiritual chief who is accused of
terror links by the U.S. government, rejected the Djibouti peace accord
outright after accusing Sheikh Sharif of violating ARS bylaws.
He repeatedly
urged Somali rebels to continue the anti-Ethiopian insurgency, which
has already killed upwards of 8,000 people since January 2007,
according to human rights groups.
Further, al
Shabaab fighters, who formed the core of the Islamic Courts military
machine and are believed to be spearheading the insurgency, did not
participate at the Djibouti peace conference and are not part of the
ARS alliance, which also includes ex-Somali lawmakers and Diaspora
activists.
The militant
group has claimed responsiblity for numerous assassinations, bombings
and gunfights with allied Somali-Ethiopian forces since the Djibouti
peace accord was signed more than a month ago.
Critics have
voiced many doubts about the implementation of the peace deal,
especially regarding the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces and the arrival
of UN peacekeepers in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa country.
Nearly 3.5 million Somalis will be in need of food assistance by the end of this year, according to the UN's World Food Program.
Source: GaroweOnline
http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_s_Islamic_Courts_factions_acknowledge_Djibouti_peace_accord.shtml
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