Opposition Alliance Described as 'Isolated'
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, September 21, 2007
The U.S. ambassador to Kenya, Michael E. Ranneberger, reiterated U.S. support for the transitional government of Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and called an opposition alliance formed in the Eritrean capital of Asmara "an isolated group."
As evidence of progress, Ranneberger pointed to Yusuf's pledges to prepare for elections in 2009, to draft a new constitution and to be more inclusive in ministerial appointments.
"The results of the conference were very positive," Ranneberger said at a news conference here, emphasizing that the reconciliation process "is not over."
The assessment was perhaps the rosiest to date for a country whose bombed-out seaside capital, Mogadishu, has been mired in daily violence since December, when Ethiopian troops backing Yusuf's government expelled an Islamic movement that had briefly taken hold of large swaths of the country.
Since Yusuf's takeover, the United States has carried out at least three airstrikes in Somalia among operations aimed at suspects in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and at other "high-value targets."
Meanwhile, a loosely organized insurgency comprising fighters allied with the Islamic movement, nationalists and various clan militias has been battling Somali government forces and Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu.
The opposition group meeting in Asmara, the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, includes former Islamic leaders, civil society leaders, intellectuals and exiled members of parliament.
Opposition members have criticized Yusuf's government for failing to reach beyond his own clan and supporters, and for using the reconciliation conference, which concluded Aug. 30, as a means to consolidate his power. They have also rallied around the cause of forcing out the Ethiopian troops, whom they consider occupiers.
But the opposition alliance has been unable to agree on a platform that would include issues such as whether Somalia, a moderate Muslim nation, should be secular or governed by Islamic law.
On Thursday, Ranneberger characterized the opposition group as ineffectual.
"What was most evident to me is the isolation of the people in Asmara and their inability to draw together a broad-based or inclusive group," he said, adding that individuals among them are welcome to join the reconciliation process.
Human Rights Watch recently accused Yusuf's government of widespread violations of the laws of war. Ethiopian troops and insurgents were also accused of violations.
About half of Mogadishu's population has fled the city, and U.N. officials have warned of a grave humanitarian crisis, including famine.
While fighting in Somalia has mostly been confined to the capital, clashes have broken out in the country's north in recent days. According to news reports, troops from the semiautonomous region of Puntland, Yusuf's stronghold, and the self-declared republic of Somaliland have battled over disputed territory. Puntland officials accused Islamic movement militias of backing Somaliland.
Source: Washington Post, Sept 21, 2007