A senior U.N. official Thursday called on the international
community to assist Djibouti financially in its peace initiative
for Somalia in a bid to restore peace in the war-torn African
country.
Kieran
Prendergast, U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs,
made the statement as he was briefing an open Security Council
debate on the current political and security situation in
Somalia.
"Djibouti
has made commendable efforts to assist the people of Somalia
to resolve their conflict by peaceful means," he said, adding
that Djibouti has almost entirely financed the Somalia peace
meeting, and this turned out to be "an intolerable burden."
Initiated
by Bjibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, the warring Somali
parties convened a peace meeting at Arta, 30 kilometers south
of the capital Djibouti, to elect a parliament which would
select an interim Somali president.
The meeting,
the 13th of its kind initiated by the Djibouti president,
started on May 2, and has attracted considerable support from
the international community and Somalia's civil society.
However,
it was bitterly opposed by the principal warlords in the Horn
of Africa.
U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, in the June 16 statement, said here that he was
"encouraged" by news the Somalia National Peace Conference
had moved into its second phase.
"We understand
that, so far, the Conference has been almost entirely financed
by Djibouti," he said.
"This
is placing an intolerable burden on a small State," Prendergast
said.
"It is
time for the international community to consider seriously
how to assist Djibouti in its peace initiative for Somalia,
especially in material ways," he said.
"The Djibouti
initiative, which has relied on Somalia's traditional system
of clans in organizing the Conference, appears to be on the
right track," he said.
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