S/PV.6197
6197th meeting
Thursday, 8 October 2009, 10 a.m.
New York
The situation in Somalia
Mr. Dabbashi (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (spoke in Arabic): I would like to thank Mr. Lynn Pascoe and Mr. Craig Boyd for their briefings and to welcome the Permanent Representative of Somalia in our midst.
Despite the numerous challenges faced by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, in the past few months it has managed to achieve some progress towards attaining its political and security objectives by pursuing dialogue with opposition groups, building local governance, preparing a draft constitution and strengthening security institutions. We welcome the commitment shown by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his Government to setting up an all-inclusive Somali Government.
We urge the opposition groups that have not yet joined the Djibouti process to participate in the reconciliation process and to eschew violence. By the same token, we urge capable States and organizations to convince all Somali factions outside the peace process to lay down their arms, stop fighting and participate in political dialogue and the reconciliation process.
We invite the TFG to continue its efforts with a view to achieving national reconciliation. In this regard, we appeal to the international community to redouble its support for the Government.
We felt shocked by the attack that targeted the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on 17 September, and we strongly condemned it. We renew our condolences to the Governments of Burundi and Uganda, as well as to the families of the victims who lost their lives in that attack. We also wish to voice our sympathy with the wounded.
By the same token, we wish to commend the role undertaken by AMISOM in an environment fraught with risks. We urge the international community to complete the disbursement of the funds it has pledged in support of the Mission and rapidly transform it into a United Nations mission, in accordance with resolution 1863 (2009).
We welcome the generous contributions made by States of the region and the international community to support and strengthen the Somali police and security forces. We urge donors to fulfil the pledges they made in Brussels and cooperate closely with the Joint Security Committee, with a view to coordinating their contributions and supporting the Committee as a political forum able to facilitate the preparation of a national security strategy in accordance with resolution 1872 (2009).
We believe that there is a need for the simultaneous implementation of a package of capacity-building programmes in various Government bodies, such as the judiciary, the parliament and the Government administration. We urge the TFG to take decisive steps to extend and entrench its authority, restore the rule of law and meet the basic needs of the population.
We express our concern at the deterioration of the humanitarian situation as a result of violent acts of abduction and killing and other threats to humanitarian workers, as well as the drought that hit the country. This has increased the number of those in need of humanitarian assistance from 3.5 million to 3.7 million, approximately 50 per cent of the total population.
In this regard, we applaud the sacrifices of and the courage shown by humanitarian workers and denounce the recent attacks against them, including the looting of their compounds. We urge all parties to abide by human rights law and international humanitarian law and to take steps to protect civilians, including humanitarian workers.
We also call upon all parties to pave the way for unfettered delivery of humanitarian aid and cooperation with humanitarian organizations on that score. Moreover, we urge all States to support the consolidated appeal and the United Nations approach regarding Somalia.
We express our concern over persistent criminal activity, including the smuggling of drugs and arms and trafficking in weapons. We call upon the international community to find appropriate means to grapple with illegal activities that threaten peace in Somalia and the region as a whole.
With regard to piracy, once again we emphasize that the problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia is a natural result of the unstable situation in Somalia, the overall deterioration in the security situation and the absence of State authority. In order to resolve this problem in a definitive manner, there must be a complete and comprehensive solution to the question of Somalia.
Although we support the international efforts deployed to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, we warn against the use of an international maritime presence in the region to protect illegal fishing activities in Somalia’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. We urge States with a maritime presence off the Somali coast to try to protect Somalia’s maritime wealth. We are duty-bound not to turn the international maritime presence into a tool protecting breaches of the principles of international maritime law and preventing the Somali people from enjoying its riches.
In conclusion, we commend the efforts made by Mr. Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and his team, and we express our support for him.
