UN special envoy calls for dialogue among leaders

The UN Secretary-General’s special representative for Somalia, François Lounseny Fall, urged Somali leaders to resolve their differences through dialogue and consensus and move towards restoring stability in the war-scarred Horn of Africa country.

"Never again should the country be allowed to descend into war and chaos," Fall said in his message to the Somali people on the occasion of the UN International Day of Peace on Wednesday. "Today's Somali leadership has a unique opportunity to save the country. History will judge their vision and their commitment to this common cause."

Differences within Somalia's Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs), including a dispute over where the interim government should be based, have paralysed the administration.

Fall said that peace could be achieved in Somalia and noted that an important step towards that goal had been made with the establishment of the TFIs. He pledged that the UN would continue to support efforts to restore peace and improve the lives of the people of Somalia.

"There is much more that the United Nations is able and willing to do, but is it the Somali Transitional Federal Institutions, working in accordance with the Transitional Federal Charter, which must first lead the way," Fall said. "I call on the leaders to work together with sincerity and commitment, through dialogue and consensus, to build trust and reconciliation between themselves and within Somali society."

The special representative said that political stability would lead to development and prosperity in Somalia.

"Progress in the political process will unlock international support for peace, reconstruction and development. What Somalia needs most today are men and women with the courage and vision to deliver. Let us all become 'peacelords' for Somalia," he added.

Somalia has had no functioning central authority for the past 14 years, following the collapse in 1991 of the government of President Muhammad Siyad Barre. Civil war erupted in the country soon after Barre was toppled, as various rival factions fought for power.

The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, which is made up of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and Somalia, sponsored the reconciliation talks that culminated in the formation of the transitional government in October 2004.