Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides)- “Dramatic news continues to arrive from Mogadishu. Fighting persists and the people cannot take any more. This is a rebellion to every effect” said Bishop Giorgio Bertin, Bishop of Djibouti and Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu, capital of Somalia, where transition government troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers have been fighting anti-government militia for several days. The people are leaving the city en masse, according to the United Nations Organisation some 24,000 have already left the capital. Mogadishu is without water, food, medicine, or electricity. The people in flight have no assistance and they sleep on the edge of the roads along which they are moving to find shelter and safety.
“I am in contact with the Caritas dispensary at Baidoa which assists the local people and those arriving from Mogadishu. The latter speak of fighting in which most of the victims are civilians”. Bishop Bertin told Fides, adding that the number of homeless has doubled in a few months. “In Somalia there were 400,000 displaced person, but since March the another 400,000 have been displaced bringing the total number to 800,000”.
The Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu says “at moment it is difficult to see a solution. After 15 peace conferences, the last one in Mogadishu in August, Somalia's political leaders have still not reached an agreement for a stable and lasting peace. I wonder if the Somali diaspora, about one million people, has anything new to suggest”.
The tragedy of Somalia must be seen in the regional and international context. Fresh tension between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Sudanese question, rivalry among foreign powers to control new oil fields and oil routes, are all elements which affect the Somali actors directly or indirectly. “I would say the crisis is an arch over Sudan and Somalia” said Bishop Bertin in answer to a question put by Fides. “The different crises in west Africa have at least two elements in common: on the one hand spreading extremism which exploits religion irresponsibly for its own political ends, and on the other various foreign powers fighting for control of local resources”.
In his latest recent report on Somalia, UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said at the moment the conditions for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in the country do not exist. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 13/11/2007 righe 32 parole 430)
