UN Leaves
Somalia With No International Staff, Gedi's Nairobi Villa Is Word on Mogadishu
Street
Byline: Matthew
Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN
UNITED NATIONS,
May 14, 2007-- Eight weeks after the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Somalia
Eric
Laroche advised his
UN colleagues and NGOs to cast their lot with the UN-supported Transitional
Federal Government, his boss John Holmes called for an investigation of
potential war crimes involving the TFG. Holmes' weekend visit to Mogadishu was
cut short by a series of bombs.
In
New York, the UN's spokesperson initially
read out that
Holmes' "mission had to be cut short for security reasons and plans for a second
day in Somalia were cancelled. Nevertheless, in discussions with President
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, Holmes did have the
opportunity to stress that the Transitional Federal Government needs to provide
a more enabling operating environment for aid workers."
After Inner
City Press asked about bombs, the spokesperson specified that
"a bomb exploded a few minutes after he arrived in
the Somali capital on Saturday. And, I guess, there were two other bombs that
went off within half an hour, all on the path of his itinerary. And personnel
from the African Union Mission to Somalia defused the fourth explosive device,
also on the route of his itinerary."
A
reporter asked, "does this mean there's a position towards the United Nations,
and that’s why they would target a senior official with all these bombs?"
The
spokesperson's
response drew
laughter from the press corps:
Spokesperson: Well, I’m not saying that he was
personally... I was just saying that bombs exploded on his itinerary. We cannot
draw the conclusion that he was the target... I’m just saying that the bombs
happened to be on his itinerary.
Inner City Press asked if Mr. Laroche, who praised the TFG and criticized NGOs
which urged caution was now based in Mogadishu, if any UN international staff
are. From the
transcript:
Inner City Press: Who in the United Nations system
remains in Mogadishu? Is [Eric] Laroche there? What is the United Nations
presence, international presence, in Mogadishu at this time?
Spokesperson: I can find out for you who is still
there, who is there. There is always a United Nations presence in Somalia. I
don’t know where it is deployed, but we will find out for you who is there. Mr.
[Francois Lonseny] Fall was there last week. He went back, as you know, to
Nairobi, and so...
Inner City Press: If you could figure out what the
presence is there.
[The Spokesperson later clarified that the United
Nations has no permanent international presence in Mogadishu.]
In
terms of Nairobi, word on the street in Mogadishu is that Prime Minister Gedi
has just bought a large villa there. Those who so adamantly supported the TFG
might want to verify and act on this.
On May 11, Inner City Press asked
the UN about the TFG's funding demands for the twice-postponed reconciliation
conference:
Inner City Press: You also mentioned Lonseny Fall
being in Mogadishu. The conference -- is the UN going to have any role in
actually funding the conference, because I think that the TFG [Transitional
Federal Government] is on record as saying they don't have funds for it. It's
not only safety but there's a funding problem. So I'm wondering, what role will
the UN have in funding the reconciliation conference?
Spokesperson: I'll check that.
[The Spokesperson later added that the conference
would essentially be funded by members of the international community on a
voluntary and bilateral basis. The UN is providing a consultation mechanism to
that end.]
We'll have more on the funding mechanisms, and the demands.
Bereaved mother
in neighborhood targeted by TFG and Ethiopian forces, sent to Inner City Press
by a photograph requesting anonymity for his safety
For now,
Inner City Press made inquiries with the UN World Food Program about
humanitarian access, and about their presence in Mogadishu:
From: Peter
Smerdon [at] wfp.org
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
Sent: Mon, 14
May 2007 3:02 PM
Subject: Re:
Thanks for Somalia response, one follow-up after USG Holmes abrupt departure
from Mogadishu, thanks in advance
Matthew, The WFP
Somalia Country Director, Peter Goossens, met USG Holmes in Nairobi before the
USG went to Mogadishu on Saturday and USG Holmes discussed various issues there
with the government and others -- as reflected in the news conference he gave in
Nairobi today.
[Substantively,
from a few days ago: WFP in the past week distributed food at 10 sites in
Mogadishu to 16,000 people – the first WFP general food distributions in the
city since much of the international community pulled out in 1995. WFP also
distributed 5 MT of food to hospitals in Mogadishu for 1,500 people injured in
the worst fighting in the city in 16 years. Because of the fighting in Mogadishu
and displacement of civilians, WFP now needs an extra US$10 million in donations
for its operations in Somalia. UNHCR estimates that 395,000 people – over a
third of Mogadishu’s population – fled the city since 1 February.]
Total WFP
Somalia Staff: 196 (31 international, 165 national)
On the number
of WFP staff in Mogadishu, we have a total of seven full-time WFP staff in
Mogadishu and we have a total of 196 staff (31 international, 165 national) in
all of WFP Somalia, including Nairobi and 11 field offices in Somalia itself.
Since countrywide there is a breakdown between international and national staff,
but in Mogadishu only "seven full-time WFP staff," and in light of the UN
Spokesperson's Monday clarification that "the United Nations has no permanent
international presence in Mogadishu," we concluded that all of WFP's staff in
Mogadishu are local. Click
here for
today's Inner City Press story on UNDP and its local staff. Developing...
Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-453A, UN, NY 10017 USA Tel:
212-963-1439
Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540
http://www.innercitypress.com/somalia051407.html
UN's Man in Somalia Says To Embrace and Not Question
the Baidoa Government
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN
UNITED NATIONS, March 2, 2007 -- Jump in and take a
side. That was the message of Eric Laroche, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in
Somalia, speaking to reporters on March 1. Mr. Laroche chided most
"international NGOs" for not being where the humanitarian problems are. He urged
the media to stop referring to the Transitional Federal Institutions, restored
to power by the Ethiopian Army, as a weak government. "Call it the to-be-strong
government," he said, adding that "today there is no other alternative to chaos
than to support the Institutions."
Inner City Press asked about a letter
from French NGO Action Contre La Faim which decried the UN's blurring of
humanitarian needs and "other political agendas." Video
here,
from Minute 52:24 to 55:20.
"Are you the one who asked the
Secretary-General?" Yes. "I am happy to answer to you." Mr. Laroche said that
humanitarianism and politics are very difficult to separate.
"If I want to have more victims today,
I just drop the [Transitional Federal] Institutions and we go back to chaos," he
said. He added that even the 8,000 peacekeepers called for in the Security
Council resolution would be barely enough. The four thousand actually slated to
deploy will not be enough, he said. "Forget about it. It is not enough." Video
here, at
Minute 52.
Copter: food or gunship?
Mr. Laroche told the media to "stop
saying that the government is weak, because I don't think that it helps."
Several reporters pointed out that they aim, or should aim, to report how things
are, not how they might be in the future. Mr. Laroche countered that "as weak at
the Institutions may appear to the Somali people or to you, there is no other
way today."
He acknowledged that this government
remains based in Baidoa, and that Somalis are fleeing Mogadishu as it has
re-descended into chaos. He spoke of a TFI-sponsored conference in April and
said that elements of the Islamic Courts Union might or might not attend. Mr.
Laroche appeared to take no position on whether the ICU should be included. One
wondered, if the UN so unequivocally embraces the Transitional Federal
Government, why should it speak to its perceived enemies?
Even Francois Lonseny Fall, the UN's other man
in, or about, Somalia, says that there should be a process included the moderate
elements of the Islamic Courts. Ban Ki-moon has given the same answer. And so
while freelancing Indiana Joneses are always appreciated, this may be a sidebar
version of Jan Egeland meeting with the Lord's Resistance Army.
To some, Mr. Laroche appears to have
conflated a location -- Mogadishu -- with a casting of political lots with a
Transitional Federal Government which has still not reached out to important
segments of Somali society, and which still has to gain trust and credibility,
given that it is only in Mogadishu due to the Ethiopian Army. It is one thing
for Mr. Laroche to urge international NGOs to come back to Mogadishu. But why
should they accept his admonition to not speak ill of the government?
Developing...
Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-453A, UN, NY 10017 USA
Tel: 212-963-1439
Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540
Rift Over UN's Call
to Train Police for Somali Government Is Downplayed by UN Headquarters
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS, February 7, 2007 -- Should the UN in
Somalia now help train the police force of a government carried from Baidoa to
Mogadishu behind a phalanx of Ethiopian troops?
The question is raised by a recent exchange of
letters between the UN's Eric Laroche and the Paris-based NGO Action Contre la
Faim, ACF, obtained Wednesday by Inner City Press. ACF states that it currently
has "a team of 90 Somali employees and five to seven expatriates
permanently based in the field... implementing humanitarian projects in Wajid
supporting more than 20,000 people [and] 2000 other Somali employees running
health and nutrition activities in Mogadishu for more than 5,000 people per
month, with the support of expatriates who visit them as regularly as possible."
The
trigger for ACF's January 21 letter was Laroche's exhortation, as now
stated on the Internet, that "there is now a window of opportunity in
Somalia to establish some degree of governance, law and order."
As
ACF's Xavier Dubos put it in the letter,
"the press release states a range of various
activities prioritized by the UN which mix for example the 'training of police',
'the demobilization and reintegration of militias' and the 'provision of
urgently needed basic social services.' ACF is fully aware of a general trend by
governments and the United Nations to develop integrated, coherent policy
approaches to international conflict and instability, combining political (and
sometimes military) and aid instruments. But we wish to alert OCHA about the
real risks created in the field by mixing the need for humanitarian aid and
other political priorities. Besides inherent challenges, in this complex
context, quick intervention in inadequate conditions or misperception by local
actors of the impartiality and political independence of humanitarian workers
may simply put the latter in danger and hamper humanitarian access and
assistance to the populations in the short term and in a durable manner.
These precautions are even more relevant given
the current tense security context in Mogadishu. Humanitarian aid must be solely
based on the needs of the population and strictly guided by humanitarian
principles, especially impartiality and independence. One could expect that,
given its specific mandate, OCHA and the Humanitarian Coordinator could
strengthen the necessary distinction between humanitarian activities and any
political agenda."
On
February 5, having heard about this letter but not yet having a copy of it,
Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman, as
transcribed
by the UN:
Inner City Press: Thanks, and also, referring to
a letter by the NGO "Action Contre la Faim" to Eric Laroche, the Somali
representative of the UN, basically criticizing Mr. Laroche for siding too
clearly with the Ethiopian incursion and sort of taking almost a US side. I
want to know if there’s any response to that analysis and if it can be confirmed
that the letter was received, and what response is being sent?
Spokesperson: I cannot confirm this at this
point. I don’t have any information on that.
Inner City Press: Can you get confirmation on
that?
Spokesperson: Sure.
Humanitarian(s)
The following morning, the Spokesman's
Office told Inner City Press that
"Yes, there was a
letter from Action Contre la Faim to the Humanitarian Coordinator in Somalia
(Eric Laroche). ACF was discussing its views on priorities for humanitarian
action in Somalia and their take on the current security situation. There was
nothing in the letter that remotely suggested Eric was 'siding with the
Ethiopians.' Eric has now responded, reaffirming the UN position that there now
exists a window of opportunity to reengage in Somalia on a humanitarian level."
The UN did not provide a copy of Mr.
Laroche's letter, much less of ACF's. But on February 7, Inner City Press
obtained both. The ACF letter does, at least "remotely," suggest that by
"training the police" in Somalia -- which has in the past two months faced an
incursion by Ethiopian troops with American support, and American gunship
attacks on southern Somalia -- the UN is "mixing the need for
humanitarian aid and other political priorities" raising questions about
"impartiality and political independence." The ACF letter cannot legitimately be
characterized as a discussion of "priorities for humanitarian action," because
it characterizes some of the UN's stated priorities as not only not a
priority, but as inconsistent with humanitarian action. It's a debate that needs
to be had, but one that the UN appears to want to prevent or to sweep under the
rug.
Mr.
Laroche's response does not fully address the issue. Laroche argues that
training the forces of the Transitional Federal Government might increase
security and humanitarian access. Time alone will tell if this argument is true.
But it is an argument, being made by the UN in the field. After Wednesday's
noon briefing, Inner City Press sought an answer to these questions from the
Office of the Spokesman staff who had written that
"there was nothing in the [ACF] letter that remotely suggested Eric was 'siding
with the Ethiopians.'" This staffer said, "I can't give you the letters," and
then seeing that Inner City Press had them, added "I've said all that I can
about them."
While it may not be necessary to say, this spokesman is otherwise helpful
and civil and more, even on Wednesday, for example, on a question about
Abkazhia. Mr. Laroche's previous work, in Congo-Brazzaville and elsewhere, has
been widely praised. But why would UN
headquarters want to muffle its field workers' arguments and the debates with
civil society of which they are a part? Developing.
On Somalia, Ban Ki-moon and US Urge Inclusion of
Moderate Islamists, While Words and Mortars Fly
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN
UNITED NATIONS, February 6 -- As the
mortars fly in Mogadishu once again, at the UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday said he is encouraged by the intention of
Abdullahi Yusuf, president of the Transitional Federal Government, to "convene a
reconciliation congress." Video
here,
from Minute 3:12.
Inner City Press asked both Mr. Ban
and U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff if they believe the TFG "is reaching out
sufficiently to the remainder of the Islamic Courts" Union. Amb. Wolff also
tipped his figurative hat to the need for an "inclusive political process
including moderate elements of the Islamic Courts movement." Video
here,
from Minute 2:52.
But speaking to the Yemeni press from
Baidoa, Abdullahi Yusuf called the Islamic Courts "nothing but criminals" with
whom he would not negotiate. Observers say this is one of the problems with the
U.S.-based strategy of having Ethiopia restore the TFG to Mogadishu, with no
commitments to openness. Now that the TFG feels it is in control, it has no
incentive to negotiate with anyone.
Toyota technical
Meanwhile, the UN's humanitarian
coordinator Eric Laroche, previously criticized by several NGOs for pulling out
of Mogadishu when it was held by the Islamic Courts (see, e.g., "UN
defends move to pull out staff from Somalia,"
Oct. 26, 2006), put out of a press release urging NGOs to seize the "window of
opportunity" presented by Ethiopia's march to Mogadishu. Reportedly, several
NGOs are unhappy with Mr. Laroche's statements, including as read-out at the UN,
that "the international aid community must take immediate advantage of the
window of opportunity that now exists in Somalia by substantially re- engaging
in Mogadishu." One observer mused to Inner City Press, "When will Mr. Laroche be
returning to Mogadishu from his base in Nairobi? Who is it, that he is urging
back through the window?"
Mr. Laroche has worked in the Congo and
in Afghanistan. He is a respected UN figure. But as some note, the UN Security
Council did nothing while the Somalia arms embargo was violated, as Ethiopia
invaded, as the U.S. bombed south Somalia. Whether these policies will lead to
peace is still very much in question.
So too these same parties embrace of
Laurent Gbagbo's initiative in Ivory Coast to negotiated directly with the
Soro-led Forces Nouvelles. Tuesday Inner City Press asked U.S. Ambassador Wolff
if these new direct talks complied with Council Resolution 1721, and if
elections will still be held in October. Video here, from Minute 8:08.
Amb. Wolff replied that "there are other
elements in the equation in Ivory Coast, not just limited to Gbagbo and Mr.
Soro." Another diplomat of a veto-wielding, Permanent-Five member of the Council
later told Inner City Press this was a reference to discussion in the Council of
rebels beyond the Forces Nouvelles. Selective inclusiveness, and an on-again,
off-again commitment to elections, appear to be the theme at the UN, as regards
Africa.
Other Inner City
Press reports are available in the ProQuest service and some are archived on
www.InnerCityPress.com --
http://www.innercitypress.com/somalia030207.html
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