Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 10, 1994 TAG: 9408250064
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By AHMED MOHAMMED ADAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In assessing the situation in Somalia, one must note the substantial progress that has been achieved in the past 18 months through the international humanitarian intervention. Large-scale famine that caused the deaths of tens of thousands has been contained, so that the worst-affected regions have recovered from the effects of the civil war and enjoy a measure of peace and stability. The inhabitants of those regions have returned to their normal occupation of tilling their lands in order to produce sufficient food for their people.
Other parts of the country also are relatively peaceful, and the Somali people are generally anxious to resume their normal life. Somalis everywhere want reconciliation.
It's true that in the capital, Mogadishu, there are still incidents of violence and kidnappings. But there are signs of mounting pressures for peace among its inhabitants, which the warring factions ignore at their peril.
Even the partly rebellious northwest region is having second thoughts about breaking away from the rest of the country because of serious disagreement among its various clans regarding that issue.
The Somali National Movement, which proclaimed independence for the region in May 1991, has recently renounced its claims publicly, having realized over the past three years the futility of pursuing an untenable goal. The movement has made known its readiness to rejoin the political mainstream of Somalia and to participate fully in the search for a constitutional system of government that will satisfy all groups in the country. The so-called ``Somaliland government'' at Hargeisa is fast losing support locally for its secessionist agenda.
On matters of administration and security, far-reaching action has been undertaken with U.N. assistance. Many regional and district councils have been formed for local governance, and also as forerunners of a national council that will serve as the central authority for an interim period of two years, pending formulation of a satisfactory constitutional system. Also with U.N. assistance, a regionalized police force, judiciary and penal system have been re-established in most regions and are being extended.
To disengage now would be to admit that the United Nations is unsuited to assisting small nations in overcoming their problems, which more often than not stem from underdevelopment.
We are now witnessing in Rwanda a tragedy that, in the view of many, could have been ameliorated by the United Nations were it not for its precipitate departure from that unfortunate country some two or three months ago. Indeed, the United Nations could well be perceived by Third World countries as no more than an instrument in the hands of the economically advanced nations, to be activated only in situations where the vital interests of the latter are at stake.
Somalis everywhere want national reconciliation and the preservation of national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity. There can be no doubt that with a little patience on the part of the international community to stay the course, the unsatisfactory state of affairs in Somalia can be reversed.
It is to be hoped, therefore, that the United Nations will be permitted to remain in Somalia until March 1995, as originally planned, and that U.S. involvement there will not be discontinued prematurely.
Ahmed Mohammed Adan, a longtime Somali diplomat, was foreign minister in 1990-91.
The Washington Post
by CNB