Top UN envoy to Somalia lauds peace deal between warring parties

Source: Xinhua | 10-27-2008 15:37

NAIROBI, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The senior UN envoy to Somalia has welcomed the agreement between the country's transitional government and Islamist rebels on a ceasefire to end their deadly conflict, the establishment of a unity government and military forces and the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops.

The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) signed two accords on Sunday in neighboring Djibouti after three days of talks backedby the UN and the wider international community.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, congratulated the TFG and the ARS for the cooperation and work that led to the accords.

"Somalis will be very pleased by the important progress made in Djibouti and the positive steps taken here," Ould-Abdallah said, according to a statement issued by the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS).

"It is a sign of the commitment of the parties to pushing forward with the Djibouti Agreement," he said, referring to an accord reached in June in neighboring Djibouti.

The leaders of the two delegations to the joint security committee, set up under the Djibouti Agreement, agreed that a ceasefire will become effective in the Horn of Africa nation on Nov. 5.

The agreement also covers the relocation of Ethiopian troops and measures to avoid a security vacuum involving, initially AMISOM with the assistance of TFG and ARS forces until the deployment of UN forces.

Somalia has been beset by fighting and massive humanitarian suffering for the past two decades but the violence has flared anew this year, particularly in and around the nominal capital, Mogadishu, and caused widespread displacement. The country has nothad a functioning national government since 1991.

Last week the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that more than 35,000 residents of Mogadishu had to flee their homes in the past month, taking the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to at least 1 million.

A persistent drought across the region is exacerbating the situation for the displaced.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei