Friday, February 02, 2007
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DUBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Exiled Somali Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed rejected the deployment of international forces in the Horn of Africa country and in remarks aired on Friday called for serious talks for national reconciliation.
"Peace does not come by force ... but by conducting talks and serious negotiations in which all the problems are identified and resolved," Ahmed told Al Jazeera television from Nairobi.
"The problem cannot be resolved by international forces because what has happened was an invasion and following up on that with international forces would further complicate the crisis," he added.
Ahmed, considered a moderate in the Islamist movement, is viewed by the United States as a possible key to Somali reconciliation talks.
Ethiopian troops and Somali interim government forces launched an offensive in late December that routed the Islamists who had controlled most of south Somalia since June.
The government wants an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force of about 8,000 troops to help the government keep control.
But many doubt the AU's capacity to muster the full contingent, let alone tame a nation that defied the combined efforts of U.S. and U.N. peacekeepers in the early 1990s.
"If it (deployment of forces) was not preceded by agreement and serious discussions, it will make the situation more difficult in Somalia," he said.
Asked whether the Islamists would use arms against such a force, he said: "How can it be acceptable if it came after invading forces and without an agreement, without negotiation?"
"How can we accept it and we see it as (two sides of the) same coin? We see it as one coin, whether Ethiopian or otherwise, and we will deal with it the same way."
The Islamists have vowed to conduct a guerrilla war, and many suspect their hardcore militants have been behind a spate of attacks in Mogadishu on Ethiopian and government positions.
Ahmed surrendered on the border with Kenya in January and was held in the custody of Kenyan intelligence until a few days ago. During that time, he met with U.S. envoy to Kenya Michael Ranneberger, who also has responsibility for Somalia.
A British-based Web site on Thursday quoted Ahmed as saying he planned to travel to Yemen shortly.
Western leaders have pressed Somalia's transitional government to form an inclusive administration.
The Islamist chief said the Somali government should make concessions for national talks to attain their goals.
"If the Somali government is ready to negotiate with an open mind then these negotiations can succeed," he said. "But if the government remains with this hardline, then nothing can be done.
"If several sides believe that national dialogue is the way forward for Somalia, they should try to press the government to concede its hardline positions toward negotiations then we might achieve something," Ahmed said.
Source: Reuters, Feb 02, 2007