Saturday 5 December 2009

Barack Obama’s Afghan vision can work for Somalia

December 5, 2009

Sir, Clare Lockhart’s article (“At last. Obama’s vision offers hope for all sides”, Opinion, Dec 3) marks a sea change in international support to troubled countries. What is so startling is that all the conclusions are as true about Somalia as they are about Afghanistan.

We accept that after 20 years without government, the situation in Somalia will appear beyond repair but the reality is very different. Piracy and the growth of Islamic extremism are not the natural state of being. They are but symptoms of an underlying malaise — the absence of government and hope.

Regional stability is increasingly at stake as Islamic extremism and the piracy problem grows and my government is working hard with your Foreign and Commonwealth Office to present and initiate our Somali lead strategy that will help the Somali people themselves to bring Somalia back from the brink.

The help we need is first in the restoration of both effective government and the training of national security forces required to secure peace and enforce laws.

Second, in restoring and enforcing Somalia’s economic exclusion zone so that Somalia can use its vast potential wealth in fish, oil and gas to fund its own future. Our fishermen currently watch as other countries plunder our waters. While we condemn it outright, it is no wonder these angry and desperate people resort to “fishing” for ships instead.

And third, in launching a large- scale civil affairs programme to train our young people and establish legitimate commercial livelihoods.

You have employed these same principles to great effect in other conflict-ridden countries (that harbour terrorists threatening UK national security) such as Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, so why not here too? The irony is that it would cost only a quarter of what is being spent right now on the warships trying to combat piracy, to fund our plan and actually solve the problems rather than simply chasing them round the Indian Ocean.

Omar Sharmarke
Prime Minister, Transitional Federal Government of Somalia

No comments:

Why cows may be hiding something but AI can spot it

  By Chris Baraniuk Technology of Business reporter Published 22 hours ago Share IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Herd animals like...