Report of the Secretary-General on the

situation in Somalia (In Brief)

Date: 18 Feb 2005

Source: United Nations Security Council

I. Introduction

I. The present report is submitted pursuant to the statement of the President of the Security Council of 31 October 2001 (S/PRST/2001/30), in which the Council requested me to submit reports on a quarterly basis on the situation in Somalia. The report focuses on developments regarding the national reconciliation process in Somalia since my previous report, of 8 October 2004 (S/2004/804). It also provides an update on the security situation as well as the humanitarian and development activities of United Nations programmes and agencies in Somalia.

II. The formation of the Transitional Federal Government

1.           The Somali National Reconciliation Conference concluded on 14 October 2004 with the swearing-in of Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as the President of Somalia. He was elected by the members of the Transitional Federal Parliament of Somalia on 10 October 2004 after three rounds of voting. In the final round, Colonel Yusuf obtained 189 votes while the runner-up candidate, Abdullahi Ahmed Addow, obtained 79 votes. Mr. Addow accepted the outcome and pledged to cooperate with the President. Prior to the vote, all 26 presidential candidates signed a declaration to support the elected President and to demobilize their militias.

2.           On 3 November, President Yusuf appointed Ali Mohammed Gedi, a veterinarian and member of the Hawiye clan, predominant in Mogadishu, as Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.

3.           During the first week of December, Prime Minister Gedi announced the appointment of some 73 Ministers, Ministers of State and Assistant Ministers. However, Members of Parliament criticized the appointments as not in line with the "4.5 formula" for clan representation that was followed during the Conference. Moreover, the Speaker of Parliament was absent from the swearing-in ceremony. On 11 December, the Parliament passed a vote of no confidence in the Government for violating articles 12 and 49 of the Transitional Federal Charter, which required parliamentary approval of the Prime Minister’s appointment and the appointment of the Cabinet.

4.           Respecting the will of the Parliament, President Yusuf, after consultations with the Speaker of Parliament, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, announced at a joint press conference in Nairobi on 13 December that he would submit the nomination of Mr. Gedi as Prime Minister to Parliament for endorsement.

5.           On 23 December, the Parliament endorsed Prime Minister Gedi’s appointment. On 13 January, the Parliament approved the new Cabinet proposed by Prime Minister Gedi (actually the old one expanded), composed of 92 Ministers, Assistant Ministers and Ministers of State. The Prime Minister responded to criticism about the unusually large number of appointments by saying that they were necessary to ensure inclusivity.

6.           The Cabinet, meeting for the first time on 15 January, created committees to handle cooperation with the international community and to work on the Transitional Federal Government’s relocation from Kenya to Somalia. On 19 January, the committees submitted their reports to the Cabinet on the Government’s relocation to Somalia.

7.           The Transitional Federal Government presented its relocation plan to the Coordination and Monitoring Committee (see para. 11 below) on 2 February. With donor support, the Government expects the plan to be implemented over a period of three months starting in mid-February. The estimated budget for implementation of the plan amounts to some €94,375,572. The plan covers the following steps:

a)    relocation to Somalia of 987 people including members of the Transitional Federal Government, Members of Parliament and delegates to the Somali National Reconciliation Conference;

b)    peace building and reconciliation through the organization of peace building conferences in 92 districts;

c)    establishment of provisional regional and district administrations until the federal structure is fully realized;

d)    encampment and retraining of 53,000 militia members; and

e)    formation of a police force of 10,000. Although donors welcomed the plan, they underlined the need to further clarify its budgetary and programmatic details. A joint committee of donors, United Nations agencies and the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) was established to work on the relocation proposal.

8.            Two Somali parliamentary delegations, composed of a total of 73 Members of Parliament and led by the Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker, arrived in Mogadishu on 6 February to discuss security and relocation issues with local leaders, clan elders and other stakeholders. Thousands of Somalis reportedly flocked into the streets to welcome the delegations. The visits were supported by the United Nations Trust Fund for Peace building in Somalia, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the European Commission. In addition to its significant financial support for the Somali National Reconciliation Conference, the European Commission has given a $2 million grant to the Association of West European Parliamentarians for Africa to provide immediate support and training for the Transitional Federal Parliament.

9.            President Yusuf and Prime Minister Gedi, while still residing in Nairobi, have undertaken a number of diplomatic missions to countries of the region. Late in October, President Yusuf visited Ethiopia, where he held talks with the Chairman of the African Union (AU), Alpha Oumar Konaré, and requested AU to send 15,000 to 20,000 peacekeeping troops to Somalia. He also discussed European Union assistance to the Transitional Federal Government with Javier Solana, the European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, who was visiting Ethiopia. At a joint press conference with President Yusuf, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, stated that the new Government of Somalia needed to move to Somalia at the earliest opportunity. Prime Minister Zenawi also urged the international community not to wait for stability to be established in Somalia before sending in a stabilization force. He stated that, although Ethiopia was stretched in the deployment of peacekeepers, it would consider extending support to Somalia if requested by the Government and people of Somalia and if authorized by the African Union. President Yusuf visited Kampala on 4 and 5 November and met with the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, who is also the current Chairman of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

10.        At a press conference on 5 November, President Museveni stated that Uganda was ready to offer troops to any force the African Union might call for to help Somalia. On 4 November, Prime Minister Gedi visited the United Arab Emirates to attend the funeral of Sheikh Zaid bin Sultan al-Nahyan. President Yusuf held talks with Yemeni leaders on 6 November. He also joined leaders from around the world to attend the funeral of Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority, in Cairo on 12 November 2004.

Full report (pdf* format - 132 KB)