Reuters
Augustine Mahiga, United Nations Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the United Nations Political Office for Somalia, addresses a news conference at the United Nations offices at Gigiri in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. UN Security Council members have warned Somalia's feuding president and parliamentary speaker that they risk losing international financial backing unless they stop bickering.
Nairobi - United Nations Security Council members warned Somalia's feuding president and parliamentary speaker at a meeting in Nairobi on Wednesday that they risked losing international financial backing unless they stopped bickering.
The mandate for Somalia's latest transitional government runs out in August but the president and parliamentary speaker, who also covets the top job, are locked in a bitter feud about what should happen then.
“In Nairobi today, UNSC blasted bickering Somali President and Speaker: get your act together, resolve your differences or lose international support,” Susan Rice, US ambassador to the United Nations, said on her Twitter page, from Nairobi.
The Security Council and African Union remain concerned about the instability in Somalia because it has become a haven for militants plotting attacks in the region and further afield, allowed piracy to flourish offshore and sent hundreds of thousands of refugees into neighbouring nations.
Islamist rebels seen as al Qaeda's proxy in the region control large parts of Somalia and pockets of the capital, so there is no chance of holding a general election in a country that has lacked effective central government for two decades.
The Security Council wants parliament - made up of lawmakers put forward by political parties and often chosen along clan lines - to set a date to elect a president, who will then select a prime minister to form a government.
Parliament speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden was a close ally of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed when he was elected in 2009, but they have fallen out badly since.
Parliament and the government have both unilaterally extended their mandates beyond August, despite international condemnation.
UN Security Council members met all the leading Somali politicians in Nairobi on Wednesday to try and reach a consensus, but none was forthcoming.
At a news conference later in Nairobi, Mark Lyall Grant, Britain's ambassador to the United Nations, said the essence of Rice's message was accurate.
“Strong messages were given,” he said. “We made it clear that the international community's support could not be assured whilst the bickering and infighting continue.”
“The president and the speaker of the parliament must be aware there will be consequences if they are unable to reach very rapid agreement,” he said. “That bickering has to stop.”
Somalia has had a series of transitional governments going back seven years, all charged with bringing peace and reconciliation to the Horn of Africa nation and implementing constitutional reform so genuine elections can be held.
But none has established legitimacy throughout the country, opening the door for rebels who see the government as a Western puppet and want to impose their own harsh version of sharia law.
The Security Council members did not clarify what specific measures they might take against the politicians, but said it and the donor community had plenty of tools at their disposal.
International donors give the government and its troops money, the European Union pays lawmakers' wages and African Union troops defending the government are largely funded by Western nations. Donors also provide extensive humanitarian aid.
“There's a whole variety of international support going into Somalia as a whole. Now, I can certainly envisage circumstances in which the balance of that support is changed and will be dependent on the decisions taken by the (government and parliament),” said Lyall Grant.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also weighed in from Addis Ababa, where he was attending an emergency African Union meeting on Libya.
“The Security Council and donors are losing patience with the political tensions within the Somali leadership,” he said. - Reuters
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