By Will Taylor
DJIBOUTI, JUNE 10, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The bishop of Djibouti remains hopeful that a new chapter for peace in Somalia is possible after prospects were dashed over the weekend.
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the U.N. envoy to Somalia, terminated a peace conference in Djibouti after government and opposition delegations refused to meet face-to-face.
He had persuaded the rival teams to come to Djibouti to seek an end to 18 years of conflict, however both sides declined to meet directly due to the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia, which are helping the government to fight Islamist-led insurgents.
Bishop Giorgio Bertin, who is also the apostolic administrator for Mogadishu, Somalia's only diocese, told Vatican Radio that despite the failed talks, there still remains room for hope.
“Before saying that the talks have completely failed," he said, "I would say certainly there was a block. Let us not say it is the end.
"Well, perhaps it is the end of a chapter; let us see now if a new chapter is possible.”
Bishop Bertin then went on to express his frustration with both sides, and elaborated about just how ridiculous the negotiation process has been thus far.
Crisis
He specified: “It is a profound delusion that we have: The people who are opposing each other, instead of meeting in the Kitinski hotel, which is a very luxurious hotel here in Djibouti, they should meet on the road between Mogadishu and Afgooye.
"Afgooye is a little town some 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Mogadishu, and it is along that road that there are probably 300,000 internally displaced people who live in a terrible situation.”
Aid workers say the humanitarian crisis in Somalia may be the worst in Africa, with the violence brought on by an Iraqi-style insurgency having caused at least one million people to become refugees throughout the nation.
And although a contingent of 2,200 African peacekeepers remains in place, it has in fact done little to stop the conflict or prevent it from spreading. The United Nations has refused to intervene until security improves.
While Ould-Abdallah noted that the government and opposition delegations had agreed on important topics such as humanitarian assistance, he stressed that the sides remained too far apart to prolong negotiations any further, due mainly to budgetary constraints.
Bishop Bertin -- though cautious -- remained optimistic, “Let us still support the attempts by the international community.”
ZE08061005 - 2008-06-10
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-22857?l=english
Bishop Optimistic for Peace in Somalia
Says It's Possible to Open a New Chapter
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