UN Security Council condemns those who obstruct peace process

The UN Security Council has condemned those who, it says, are obstructing Somalia's peace process, and warned that anyone persisting on the path of confrontation and conflict will be held accountable.

In a statement read out on Wednesday at an open meeting by its president for July, Ambassador Mihnea Ioan Motoc of Romania, the Security Council also welcomed steps by the African Union to prepare for the deployment of military monitors to Somalia, and called on the Somali leaders to cooperate with that initiative.

The statement called on the Somali parties to respect a cessation of hostilities agreement signed between various rival groups in the Kenyan town of Eldoret in 2002, according to UN News. It also urged Somali factions to ensure security and to resolve their differences peacefully.

"The Council recognises that while the establishment of a transitional federal government will be an important step towards establishing sustainable peace and stability in Somalia, much effort will lie ahead if this objective is to be achieved," Motoc said.

In a series of related provisions, the Council reiterated its firm support for the reconciliation process and the ongoing Somali National Reconstruction Conference in Kenya, launched under the auspices of the regional African Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

The Council expressed concern over the continuing flow of weapons and ammunition into the country and over the humanitarian situation in Somalia. It called on Somali leaders to facilitate the delivery of much-needed humanitarian assistance and to assure the safety of all international and national aid workers.

On 8 July, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Somali delegates attending the reconciliation conference to resolve their divergences and create an all-inclusive government. "I appeal to you to rise above your differences, and do all you can to bring your people an era of security, peace and hope," Annan told the delegates when he addressed them in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

On 23 June, the delegates formed an arbitration committee to resolve any disputes that might arise during the nomination of the 275 members of Somalia's proposed Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP). Various clan representatives at the reconciliation conference are currently in the process of nominating TFP members, but the process has been slowed down by disputes.

Bethuel Kiplagat, the chief mediator in the Somali peace process, said on Tuesday that the IGAD Facilitation Committee was working to remove all bottlenecks in the distribution of parliamentary seats among subclans.

Mediators have urged the delegates to honour a 31 July 2004 deadline set by IGAD for the end of Phase III, the last stage of the peace talks.

Somalia has been without a functioning government since the toppling in 1991 of the regime of Muhammad Siyad Barre. The IGAD-sponsored talks began in October 2002 in Eldoret and were moved to Nairobi in February 2003.