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Somalia: Sort Out Mess The Nation (Nairobi) EDITORIAL Nairobi Pope Benedict, in his Easter message, expressed deep concern over the worsening violence in Somalia, a country in which peace remains elusive. The Head of the Catholic Church saw the latest escalation in fighting in Mogadishu, the worst the capital has seen in 15 years, as dashing the hope for peace in the region. Just when it seemed as if the African Union was getting its act together in the search of a solution to the Somali crisis, after Ugandan peace keepers arrived, gloom now hangs over the Horn of Africa nation. Somalia remains a complex matter which calls for greater effort from the international community than we have seen in two decades the country has not had a central government since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. The latest turn for the worse in Somalia started with the intervention of Ethiopia to shore up the interim government, which for the very first time relocated to the capital after the Union of Islamic Courts was routed and driven out by more superior fire-power. The Islamist fighters now in hiding, no longer call the shots in Mogadishu, but the transitional government has failed to gain any real foothold. And it has increasingly come up against insurgents emboldened by their recent successes against its own troops and the Ethiopian forces. A lawless Somalia is not good for Kenya, which shares a long, poorly policed border with its northern neighbour. We believe that the only way out of the Somali quagmire is to seek a more inclusive system that involves all shades of that society in a genuine search for a peaceful solution. And this must be done under strict international supervision and solid support. |
