AU holds special meeting on situations in Somalia

The African Union (AU) on Tuesday held a special meeting which is said a turning point in the history of coordinating involvement of the international community in the peace and security in Somalia. Ministers of Defence from troop contributing countries of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Burundi and Uganda, as well as of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, and also high level representatives from the UN to the AU, were in attendance of the day-long meeting at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. "Though we have had meetings in the past devoted to Somalia, this one looks like the turning point in the history of articulating and coordinating and strengthening the international community's involvement in the of peace and security in Somalia," said Ramtane Lamamra, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security. "At certain moment today we have had the opportunity to address management issues relating to AMISOM and existing challenges opportunities," he said during a joint press conference, "I think political dimension, security dimension, and humanitarian dimensions of the situation in Somalia, the logistical challenges that are there to make sure that our operation is soundly planned for and efficiently conducted on the ground all those guiding concerns have been prevailing throughout today's discussions". The Commissioner said there is almost full liberation of Mogadishu by Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) forces actively supported by AMISOM, and that Al-Shabaab and other terrorist groups who affiliate with it are splitting. "The meeting we just concluded opens a process, which we would fully articulate an updated strategy for the next few months, we will also design an horizon beyond August 2012 when the current transition is called to come to an end," said Lamamra. "We will be working closely with all assigned today UN, IGAD, AU, East African Community, and in very reasonable time frame at weeks not month will be able to submit to the Peace and security council this plan of action," he said. Susana Malcorra, UN Under-Secretary General for Peace Operation, said that they had a very productive meeting today. She said there has already been change in Mogadishu with the active engagement of AMISOM and TFG. Augustine Mayiga, UN Special Representative to Somalia said: "Indeed this was an opportunity to bring convergence and synergy between the political strategy and the security strategy in the peace process for Somalia." "There was unanimous support for the current political strategy around the road map which was adopted the 6th of September this year. We are holding a civil society meeting at the end of November to bring the whole range of civil society organizations to participation in the implementation of the road map. At the same time we are seeking with partnership under the guidance of the TFG to bring in the population and representatives from the newly liberated areas to participate in the roadmap," said Mayiga. The meeting also called for the application of targeted sanctions against spoilers who may be seeking to undermine the road map and the political process as a whole, he said.