In Somalia, “almost war crimes and crimes against humanity”
(BRUSSELS2) During his meeting with Javier Solana, the EU's chief diplomat, on July 10, the UN special representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah (1), did not have enough words hard to describe the situation in Somalia. « We must stop killing innocent people and make victims among the population. The humanitarian situation is catastrophic, worse than ever. What is being done in Somalia is inadmissible, they are almost war crimes and crimes against humanity. »
"The African Union will never allow them to come to power". The special representative called the "rebels" to reason, to dialogue, and explained that the international community will not give in. « On the one hand, we have a government accepted by the population, recognized by the region and the international community, and on the other, people determined to use all means, except discussion, to use force to come to power then that they know that this is not an accepted way neither by theAfrican Union, nor by the United Nations, nor by theEuropean Union. So they want more chaos. The African Union will never allow them to come to power. It is a danger for the country, for Africa. They have to come to their senses and talk to their brothers in government. »
Atalanta useful for the Somali economy. He also praised the work of Atalanta, not for the reasons that we know (the boarding of ships by pirates) but for reasons relating to the Somali economy (another often not very visible aspect of the effect piracy). " One of the best initiatives (in the region) is Operation Atalanta, it is a demonstration of solidarity with the Somalis, the people of the region. Because piracy increases the price of food for the poor, increases financial instability in the region by giving enormous resources to anonymous people who buy, sell, and destabilize. (...) It is a great military and diplomatic success. »
-- NGV --
(1) Ould Abdallah is not unknown in Brussels. He was the representative of his country (Mauritania) to the EC in the 1970s.
Photo credit: European Commission, Ould Abdallah at the international conference on Somalia in April 2009.
