No government-in-exile, new president says

27-OCT-04

Somalia's newly elected president has said his administration would not remain in exile, but would return to the war-ravaged country before security was completely restored.

President Abdullahi Yusuf said once his cabinet was selected they would return - although they would initially establish themselves outside the capital, Mogadishu. He rejected calls for the new government to return only when security is restored. "The first thing this new government should tackle is security," he said

Yusuf has asked the African Union (AU) for between 15 and 20,000 peacekeepers to help restore order in Somalia, which has been devastated by 14 years of civil war.

"For the past 14 years that destruction has been going on and all the infrastructure including the military and security forces has been destroyed," he said. "We need forces from Africa to help us in peacemaking. At the same time, it is essential we start building new Somali forces comprise military police and military."

He also pledged to begin as soon as possible the difficult task of disarming the 55,000 militias in Somalia. "What we need is for the government to go inside and start work. We are not going to be a government of refugees. We are not going to be a government of exiles.

Yusuf, was sworn in on 14 October after a 275-member transitional parliament elected him in Nairobi, Kenya, also played down difficulties with the self-declared republic of Somaliland, which said it would not recognise him. "We want to solve the problems in Somalia peacefully - including Somaliland," he said. "We would never resolve matters through force. Dialogue and discussion is much better than resorting to violence."

The Horn of Africa country has been divided into fiefdoms ruled by rival warlords since 1991, when long-time president Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted. There have been 14 other peace efforts and two previous governments were formed, but they never managed to take effective control over most of the country.

Said Djinnit, AU commissioner for peace and security, said it was "too early" to say when an African peacekeeping force would arrive in Somalia. An AU delegation will travel to Somalia next month as a part of on-going efforts to draw up a concrete peacekeeping plan.

-IRIN News

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