Wenesday, July 09 2008 SMC“     

The African Union (AU) demanded UN sanctions against all Somali parties hampering last month's truce agreement and whose implementation was due to begin Wednesday.

The pan-African body's main executive body, the AU commission, "reiterates the need for the UN Security Council to take measures against those who are jeopardising the ongoing political process in Somalia and regional stability," said a statement received in French by AFP.

"In short, this means that the AU is urging the UN to impose targeted sanctions against individuals or powers hampering the peace process in Somalia," a senior AU official told AFP.

The Horn of Africa country has been in the throes of a brutal civil war since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre.

Ethiopian troops invaded in late 2006 to rescue an embattled interim government and soon ousted an Islamist group which had briefly controlled large parts of the country.

The ensuing guerilla war pitting Islamist insurgents against government troops and allied Ethiopian and African Union peacekeeping forces has plunged Somalia into further chaos.

According to international rights groups and aid organisations, at least 6,000 civilians have been killed in the violence over the past year alone and hundreds of thousands displaced.

The violence has defied more than a dozen peace initiatives over the past 17 years, but in the latest attempt to quell the bloodshed, a UN-brokered truce deal was reached on June 9 in Djibouti.

The agreement was initiated by the Somali transitional government and several top leaders from the main Islamist-dominated opposition alliance.

However other leading Islamist officials and military commanders have rejected the agreement, insisting that Ethiopian troops should unilaterally pull out of Somalia before peace talks can start.

The Djibouti deal gave signatories a month to start implementing a cessation of hostilities but holdout factions have continued to target the government and Ethiopian forces in recent days.

Rival Islamist leaders have been meeting in the Yemeni capital Sanaa since Monday in a bid to unify opposition ranks and broaden support for the latest peace efforts.

source:AFP

Somaliweyn Media Center “SMC”

Jowhar traders committee chairman quits his title after squabble (Read more) SMC-14-May-2008

The Ethiopian troops should first pullout from Somalia (Read more) SMC-14-May-2008

People died in crossfire at Kismayu town in the Juba region (Read more) SMC-14-May-2008

Ethiopian troops in military maneuvers in Baladweyn town (Read more) SMC-13-May-2008

50 diarrhea patients admitted at Bandir general hospital (Read more) SMC-13-May-2008

Bakara Market community appealed the TFG government (Read more) SMC-12-May-2008

One person died in clan Vendetta grounds in the middle Shabelle region in Somalia (Read more) SMC-12-May-2008

Illegal roadblocks intensively increasing in Kismayu Town (Read more) SMC-12-May-2008

Baladweyn residents show concern over the Ethiopian troops (Read more) SMC-12-May-2008

The spring rains observed in Galgadud region in central Somalia (Read more) SMC-11-May-2008

The commander of the lower Shabelle region says they would confront (Read more) SMC-11-May-2008

Ethiopian troops entered inside Baladweyn town in central Somalia overnight (Read more) SMC-11-May-2008

Mohamed Hassan Haad: says, “We don’t think much would be achieved” (Read more) SMC-11-May-2008

A court Jude resigns in Hiran region in central Somalia (Read more) SMC-11-May-2008

The place where deadly combat occurred yesterday is tranquil today (Read more) SMC-10-May-2008

Severe drought in some parts of Bakool region in southern Somalia (Read more) SMC-10-May-2008

Somaliweyn Media Center (SMC)
Muqdisho Somalia

	Web You Domainame