Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides) – Somalia is now positioned in the heart of an intense diplomatic and military activity, following a resolution from the UN Security Council authorizing countries to send in their naval forces to confront Somali pirates and to carry out military activity on African air and land space, upon the local government's consent.
A power struggle is also taking place inside the government, since President Abdullahi Yasuf Ahmed dismissed Premier Nur Hassan Hussein, appointing Mohamoud Mohamed Guled to take his place. The President was in need of Parliament's approval to dismiss the Premier. Parliament, however, turned down Hussein's dismissal; thus, a split has occurred between the President and the legislative body. In the meantime, guerrillas linked to the Islamic Courts continue their attacks and taking over new territories.
The National Transition government, in fact, controls a very small portion and their legitimacy is mostly a result of the acknowledgment of the international community. This is precisely the government, so dependent on international aid that it has to authorize the a military incursion of foreign troops on Somali soil, in areas that are no longer under their control. The present map of Somalia, in fact, shows the southern portion of the country, home to the capital Mogadishu, formally under government control, however which is now being taken over by Islamic troops. Puntland, the central-eastern region with an autonomous administration, has now become a homebase for the pirates who are now a threat to navigation in the Gulf of Aden. Somaliland, to the north, which self-declared its independence in 1991, was considered the most stable part of the country. However, a series of recent attacks have caused alarm among local authorities.
The international community has had a negative reaction to the power struggle inside the provisional institutions, which are being supported by Ethiopian troops and the African Union. Recently, Ethiopia announced its intention of pulling out troops from Somalia, while the African Union troops are being obliged to fight the Islamic militias.
While south-central Somalia is at risk of downfall, the major world powers are concentrating all their energies in Somali pirates who are based in Puntland. The Security Council's resolution, which was unanimously approved by its 15 countries on December 16, will open the way to future foreign military interventions. In fact, the United States, who presented the resolution, is trying to present another for the end of the year, whose objective would be to send a UN peacekeeping mission to Somali. Washington says that the Somali pirate crisis should be treated at its root, resolving the country's instability.
While the piracy problem is a reality, the positioning of the warships of various powers, with the objective of protecting navigation, also derives from the desire of these countries to control a strategic area of the sea, especially for extraction of oil. The Somali piracy (which has accomplices on a global level) is just another one of the excuses for foreign military presence in the area. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 17/12/2008)
