In this issue: * SOMALILAND ORDERS UNOSOM TO LEAVE * CIAMPI'S AND CLINTON'S PRESS CONFERENCE * UNDP DEFENDS SOMALIA STAFF AGAINST CONSPIRACY CHARGES ____________________________________________________________________ S O M A L I A N E W S U P D A T E ____________________________________________________________________ Vol 2, No 24 September 18, 1993. ISSN 1103-1999 ____________________________________________________________________ Somalia News Update is published irregularly via electronic mail and fax. Questions can be directed to Bernhard.Helander@antro.uu.se or to fax number +46-18-151160. All SNU marked material is free to quote as long as the source is clearly stated. ____________________________________________________________________ SOMALILAND ORDERS UNOSOM TO LEAVE (SNU, Uppsala, Sept. 17) Leaders of the Republic of Somaliland -the territory that corresponds to former British Somaliland but has not received international recognition - have advised United Nations forces in northern Somalia to leave the region, according to a message from the Germany-based DPA today. The republic's recently elected president, Mohammed Egal, said the U.N.'s military operation in the territory was being stopped because the U.N. had interfered in the region's internal affairs. The Republic of Somaliland declared independence in 1991. In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) African service on Firday, Egal said he had instructed representatives of UNOSOM to close their office in Hargeisa and stop their work. Egal emphasized that the order to move out applied only to UNOSOM, not other U.N. bodies or aid organisations. Egal accused UNOSOM of setting individual factions against the republic and trying to convince community leaders that the U.N. was actually governing Somaliland, not Egal's government. The Addis Ababa Agreement from March this year was signed between, among others, some organisations claiming to represent clans in Somaliland. The agreement calls for a system of local gevernment to be introduced in the entire country. A group of independent advisors to UNOSOM in May stressed that it would be fatal to the stability in the north to seek to introduce the local governance system there. UNOSOM has apparantly ignored this advice. While the system of local government has turned out to be a great success in all of the some thirty districts in the south where it has so far been introduced, it is far beyond the UNOSOM mandate to seek to introduce the very same system in the north. Northern Somalia - Somaliland Republic - has by relying on the traditional peace- making mechanisms within the clan-system, been able to achieve a relative political stability. Although no foreign government recognizes Somaliland yet, the Swedish government - among others - have started to repatriate refugees to the republic, following a long period of monitoring of the political developments in the area. The militias who drew Somaliland into the unfortunate position of becoming subjected to a destabilizing policy from UNOSOM are formed largely by diaspora-members of the respective clans. The SDA and USP, for instance, have little or no legitimacy among their respective clan-constituencies. UNOSOM's poltical officers are aware of this but have for some reason decided to push on with their plans anyway. CIAMPI'S AND CLINTON'S PRESS CONFERENCE (SNU, Uppsala, September 17) Following the last weeks increasing contradiction between Italy and the US over UN's Somalia policy, Prime Minister Ciampi today visited Pesident Clinton in the White House. The following are Somalia-related excerpts from their press- conference: PRESIDENT CLINTON:...Italy and the United States will work together to raise the resources to assist Palestinian self- government, while in Somalia and Mozambique we cooperate with the United Nations to assist peacekeeping and to promote civil society...Mr. Prime Minister. PRIME MINISTER CIAMPI: Thank you. Mr. President, first of all I wanted to thank President Clinton for giving me the possibility to be here today. And the discussion with President Clinton will fully confirm the atmosphere of a deep and intense trust that emerged during our meeting in Tokyo last July. They were given new momentum by the event taking place just a few days after the historic event that on these very grounds opened a new chapter of dialogue and hope in the relations between the people of Israel and Palestine, which Italy as a Mediterranean country has always advocated. ... The Italian government's strong commitment to its domestic affairs is sped forward also by its awareness that the changes in the international arena following the end of the Cold War require it to play an operative role in the new set of common responsibilities of the largest industrialized economies of the Western world. We brought one another up today and -- our perspective on the situation in the former Yugoslavia and in Somalia. On this last topic, my government, the Italian people harbor a legitimate and special concern heightened by the most recent tragic developments. President Clinton and I recognize the problems of operating in a completely devastated institutional, social and economic context, as is the case in Somalia. This very reality, unacceptable as it is, was the source of our common participation in Restore Hope. But the experience of these past months let's ask today to recommend a concrete program to be proposed jointly to the United Nations for the revival of a political initiative in Somalia. It is a matter, in particular, of supporting the humanitarian and the security mission on the ground, with a more decisive management, of the process of a national reconciliation among so many factions. This is the precondition for an effort to reconstruct the country, institutionally and materially. ... Question: Mr. President, there is a growing feeling in Congress that you should declare a victory and pull out of Somalia. And, also, are you any closer to a way to have a negotiated peace in Somalia as a result of your conversations today? PRESIDENT CLINTON: Prime Minister Ciampi and I started this conversation in July in Tokyo. Question: Back on Somalia for a minute. As you talk with allies like the Prime Minister here about the renewed political initiative you're talking about, do you have any way of drawing lines or reassuring the people who Helen referred to on the Hill and elsewhere that this won't be a situation that America just can't get out of? PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, it's not going to be a situation we just can't get out of. But on the other hand, we don't want to leave under conditions that will immediate -- cause things to immediately revert to where they were before the United Nations entered. And so there has to be some sort of political initiative. And the Congress worked with me on their resolution on Somalia, gave me a reasonable amount of time to come up with a renewed initiative in cooperation with our allies. And I think by the time the time comes to go back to Congress, I will have -- I will be able to answer those questions. Question: Can I follow? PRESIDENT CLINTON: Sure. Question: a commitment of troops? PRESIDENT CLINTON: No. No, no. What I -- we have the troops there, and it certainly doesn't mean more troops there. It means what we can do to stop the fighting and enable the U.N. to continue -- or at least the U.S. to continue to reduce its troop presence without seeing the whole country consumed in the kind of violence we've seen in one small part of Somalia recently. ... Question: Let me ask you to elaborate a little bit farther on this political initiative on Somalia. Is that an initiative you agreed with Mr. Ciampi right now? Does it have something to do with the letter by Aideed? Is that initiative a U.S. initiative, a U.S.- Italian initiative, a U.N. initiative? PRESIDENT CLINTON: We discussed the letter that Mr. Aideed wrote to President Carter. And we discussed some of the options that we might pursue. And we agree that both of us would go back with our respective folks and see if we could come up with something to take to the United Nations. We did not reach agreement today on what to do. We agreed that we needed a political initiative, but that the political initiative should further the original United Nations initiative and not undermine it. The Prime Minister perhaps would like to respond, also. PRIME MINISTER CIAMPI: First of all, hearing the questions that have been asked to the President, I was wondering whether in Washington or in Rome, because leaving aside Somalia, which is a common problem to both of us, the questions on health care, which is keenly felt in Rome, too, and so I wasn't sure where I was, whether I was in Rome or in Washington; because our domestic problems obviously are very similar. Having said this, concerning Somalia, what I meant to say was that, having discussed the issues alluded to by President Clinton, we have a full agreement on this, keeping in mind the original goals of the mission in Somalia. And we agree that we must promote with the U.N. a political and diplomatic initiative which would fully highlight the fundamental goals and reasons for it being in Somalia, the military presence must complement the goals, the political goals, the humanitarian goals. This is what we agreed on. But what we must do must be done with a U.N. decision. What Italy does, or what the U.S. can do is to make proposals within the U.N. Question: international mediation -- for instance, ex- President Carter. Are you going to make a proposal like that to the U.N.? PRESIDENT CLINTON: We made no specific decision today, nor do I think we should speculate about them. I don't want to think out loud about them. We have agreed that there ought to be a political initiative, that it ought to be an initiative which furthers the original U.N. mission of enabling the Somalis to take control of their own affairs in peace, in dignity, and without starvation and murder. That is, we don't want to do something that rewards the very conduct we went to Somalia to put an end to. And that's the only decision that was made. ... Q Mr. President, you said you don't want to discuss your methods until you go to the U.N., but you seem to be describing a goal of establishing a government -- a functioning government in Somalia. Would you confirm that you're thinking in those terms, and any timetable you might have? THE PRESIDENT: No, I won't because I don't -- our position is not well enough formed yet to be characterized fairly in the way that you just characterized it. I have just been -- I've been very disturbed, frankly, as many members of Congress, many Americans have, in the last several days by the turn of events in Somalia. Although I'm disturbed that not only our troops under the U.N. banner have been increasingly embroiled in conflict which have led to the deaths of Somalis, but I'm also disturbed that this is plainly part of a strategy by supporters of General Aideed to make the presence of the U.N. more unpopular there in all the member countries. And if that is all that is achieved, then when we leave, the chances that they will revert to exactly the same horrors that got us there are very large. I have to remind my fellow Americans and all of the people in the world who have an aversion to the events of the last two weeks not to forget that over 300,000 people lost their lives there, were starved, were murdered, were subject to incredibly inhumane conditions because of the chaotic and lawless behavior of the people who had authority. Now, many of those warlords have changed their behavior, have been cooperating with the United Nations, have enabled at least the conditions of orderly life to remain. On the other hand, it is plain to me that it was never an option for us to continue to pursue a military solution or to be obsessed with Aideed or anybody else, to the exclusion of trying to build a peaceful society. So what the Prime Minister and I have recognized is that we have to do more to try to develop a political initiative that will enable not only the United States to withdraw, but for the United Nations to remain as long as is necessary, and in a more peaceful and constructive role. That is the only decision we have made to date. PRIME MINISTER CIAMPI: I have nothing to add to what President Clinton said, and I already said before what the Italian position was, which is to give a new political dimension which prevails over a U.N. intervention of Somalia. Therefore, our action is with the U.N., and I am very happy that this coincides with the President's feeling, and that is to promote this action. And without this, a purely military action would not make any sense. Question: as peacekeepers? And what is your opinion of this peace agreement? PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, first of all, keep in mind what was agreed to. What is was agreed to was a cease-fire and the agreement to begin talking again. We are hopeful about this, but also properly wary. I mean, there's been no territorial agreement and that is the nub of the controversy. So we hope very much that next week there will be real progress to provide a humane and decent life in the future for the Bosnians. I have said all along that -- going back to February -- that the United States would be prepared to participate in a multinational peacekeeping effort there if there were a fair settlement, generally and freely entered into by the Bosnian government, which we have supported. But it is -- while the signs of the agreement are hopeful, it is important not to overread them. There has not been an agreement in the major areas of contention yet. So next week, or soon thereafter, if an agreement is reached that the United States can evaluate and act on -- I can answer that question but I can't answer that question until there is an agreement that we know is a full and fair agreement that we have some sense if enforceable. UNDP DEFENDS SOMALIA STAFF AGAINST CONSPIRACY CHARGES (SNU/IPS, Uppsala/New York, September 14) The U.N. development programme (UNDP) Tuesday defended its Somalia staff members two weeks after eight of them were mistakenly arrested by U.S. peacekeepers. "We are proud of the staff in Somalia", the agency said in an official release. "We also commend the staff for the fortitude they showed at the time of the (Aug. 30) raid on the residence building". Members of the U.S. rangers team sent to Somalia to bolster the U.N. peacekeeping force detained eight UNDP workers at their offices for several hours while they investigated whether Somalis had used the building in a conspiracy. The building turned out to be U.N. residences. but spokesman for the U.N. operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) peacekeeping force Maj. David Stockwell said the operation was "not a mistake. We searched the right buildings, not the wrong ones". U.S. and UNOSOM officials claimed last week that Somali nationals had used U.N. offices as secret bases. they said some of them were loyal to fugitive general Mohamed Farah Aideed, who is being sought for alleged connection to the killing of 24 U.N. soldiers. Officials pointed to evidence that aidid loyalists were found to have U.N. agency documents in their compounds as proof that many Somalis hired by the agencies as 'technicals', or local assistants, were infiltrators for Somali militias.The UNDP denied that possibility in its release. "As in all countries, UNDP depends also in Somalia on services provided by nationals", the agency said. "until we have evidence that any of them are behaving in an improper or hostile manner toward the U.N. and its mission, we have no basis to discharge them". The UNDP added in the release that it had never been informed of the UNOSOM force's suspicions that anti-U.N. militias could be using their offices to plan or conduct activities on behalf of Aideed or other faction leaders. "If UNDP had any reason to suspect that any UNDP-occupied premises were being used at any time to support hostile activity against U.N. personnel or anyone else, UNDP would have taken immediate steps, including alerting UNOSOM, to halt it", the agency said. ____________________________________________________________________ SNU is an entirely independent newsletter devoted to critical analysis of the political and humanitarian developments in Somalia and Somaliland. SNU is edited and published by Dr. Bernhard Helander, Uppsala, Sweden. ____________________________________________________________________