2007年VOA标准英语-Somali President Agrees to Reconciliation Meeti（在线收听）

By Leslie Neuhaus
Addis Ababa
30 January 2007

Somalia's president agreed Tuesday to a national reconciliation conference to try to end 16 years of fighting in the war-ravaged country. As Les Neuhaus in Addis Ababa reports for VOA, the announcement paves the way for the deployment of African peacekeepers.

 
An aide directs Somalia President Abdullahi Yusuf, left, and EU Development Chief Louis Michel
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf told journalists in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, that the troops would be deployed soon, although he gave no exact timeframe.

"The peacekeeping force from the African Union will arrive soon," he said.
 
The African Union is looking to send in an 8,000-strong force, but so far only three nations - Uganda, Nigeria and Malawi - have pledged troops.

Meanwhile, fears are mounting that the country could once again be plunged back into civil war without a peacekeeping force to replace withdrawing Ethiopian troops who had helped prop up the interim government, established in 2004 with the help of the United Nations.

To allay those fears, Mr. Yusuf says he plans to hold a national reconciliation conference in the country to try and end the bitter feuding among rival clans in Somalia. The move comes weeks after Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops, tanks and warplanes ousted a rival Islamic movement that had threatened to take control of the country and confine the government to one farming town.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in Addis and says the world body will have to discuss taking over the African Union mission. The African Union says that it wants the U.N. to take over the Somali peacekeeping operation after six months from the initial deployment.

 
Ban Ki-Moon (file photo)
"Once the African Union's mission is in place, we hope the African Union will be able to deal with this matter," he said.  "I have heard certain wishes from African countries about the possible takeover of IGASOM and AMISOM by U.N. peacekeeping forces, but this is a matter of further discussions among the Security Council members and I will discuss this matter when I return."

European Union development chief, Louis Michel, says a key part in helping achieve peace must include dialogue with Somalis.  He says the EU is prepared to finance the national reconciliation conference.

"What we expected when we decided to the council that we (the EU) had 50 million euro to finance a stabilizing force, but we told them that it would be submitted to conditions, and the condition was inclusive dialogue and we suggested that the president convene a national reconciliation conference."
 
The two-day summit has focused on two of the continent's thorniest issues, the worsening violence in Sudan's Darfur region and attempts to restore peace to Somalia.