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The peace accord crowned three days of talks brokered by the Arab League. (Reuters)
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KHARTOUM — Somalia's powerful Islamic Courts and
the interim government signed an interim peace accord in Khartoum late
Monday, September 4, calling for the formation of a unified national
army and police force.
"I am delighted by the signing of this
agreement that will pave the way for the pacification of
Somalia," said Ibrahim Hassan Addow, the chief of the Islamic
Courts delegation, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"As the Islamic courts, we will implement this
agreement that has been made here in Khartoum and we call upon the
government to do the same," he said at a signing ceremony.
The deputy prime minister of Somalia's transitional
government, Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail, signed on behalf of the largely
powerless administration whose limited authority has been severely
tested by the rise of the Islamic Courts.
"The Somali people are tired of war," he
said. "They no longer want to see a continuation of factional
fighting. The time to make peace has come and we will not hesitate to
take all opportunities to ensure our country is peaceful."
The four-point agreement was hammered out after
three days of Arab League-mediated talks.
The signing, at a Khartoum hotel, was witnessed by
Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol and Arab League representative
Abdul Halima.
The two sides had met in Khartoum in June for their
first direct talks and agreed to recognize each other and to observe a
ceasefire.
The Islamic Courts rose to power by capturing
Mogadishu and other key areas in June from US-backed warlords who had
ruled the capital since the overthrow of president Mohamed Siad Barre
in 1991.
Unified Army
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"I am delighted by the signing of this agreement that will pave the way for the pacification of Somalia," said
Addow. (Reuters)
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The main point of the accord, the fourth, says the
two sides have "agreed to the formation of a Somali national army
and police force by integrating Islamic Courts militias, the
transitional federal government and other local militia."
The accord also sets out three points to which the
sides will adhere, including continued implementation of the June 22
accords, which they have each accused the other of violating.
Those charges have stemmed from the presence in
Somalia of troops from neighboring Ethiopia in support of the
government.
The accord says the two sides will "co-exist
peacefully with neighboring countries and ask regional states to
respect the territorial integrity of Somalia."
It also says they will not "support Somali
warlords (or) fight among themselves or re-arm themselves,"
according to a Somali language copy.
The government and the Islamic Courts also agreed
to begin talks on power-sharing on October 30, at the end of the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as an extension of the deal, intended to
prevent the lawless nation from plunging further into chaos.
Officials from both sides told Reuters that they
would form a joint committee with Arab League and Sudanese observers
to monitor implementation of the new accord.
Peacekeepers
The agreement does not mention at all the
government's repeated requests for African peacekeepers to shore up
its limited authority.
In a position paper presented earlier Monday in
Khartoum, and in talks with Kenyan officials in Nairobi, the Islamic
Courts had renewed absolute rejection of any foreign forces on Somali
soil.
"We discussed this issue, but we reached no
agreement whatsoever," said Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the head
of the executive committee of the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS).
"We warned them that any deployment against
our wishes will spoil everything, including the small peace in the
country," he told reporters after returning to Mogadishu from the
Kenyan capital on the eve of the summit.
The deployment of foreign peacekeepers in Somalia
is high on the agenda of a top-level IGAD summit in the Kenyan capital
on Tuesday, September 5, Reuters said.
Most heads of state and government from the seven
IGAD members -- Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and
Djibouti -- are expected to show up.
IGAD has been leading the peace process in Somalia
and helped create the interim government in late 2004.
