Somalia's new cabinet will today
(Monday) be discussing calming escalating tensions due to the presence of the African
Union Peacekeeping Forces (AMISOM) among Somalis who are demanding they leave.
This comes after the government urged the United Nations
Security Council to support the deployment of more troops to help restore peace
to the capital, Mogadishu and other areas of the country. But Islamic clerics
who have backed the new administration since its formation sharply opposed the
request for more troops into Somalia telling the government to rescind its
decision. The clerics claimed most Somalis are against the presence of AU
troops in the country and had previously demanded they be sent back to their
respective countries.
Ali Abdullahi
is a political analyst. He tells reporter Peter Clottey that the new
administration's cohesion would be tested by the controversy surrounding the
presence of AMISOM.
"Foreign
occupation is mostly associated with a form of subjugation, and this was what
was seen in the last Ethiopian occupation in Mogadishu. So, the public does not
trust the occupation forces in whatever form or shape they come," Abdullahi pointed out.
He
said many Somalis are apprehensive about the presence of foreign troops in the
country, including the African Union Peacekeeping Mission (AMISOM).
"The
people want all foreign troops out are those who think that their life system
would change. And these are presumably the hard line elements of al-Shabaab and
all those and then you have those in the business community who think that as
is happening now the African Union troops of about 3,500 troops is helping the
government in trying to collect revenues from the port of Mogadishu. So, these
are the issues which they are scared of and they are thinking that they may be
taxed higher than in the case of the business community. And for the hard line
groups including al-Shabaab they think that if they see a government that is
going to work, then they think their importance would be minimized," he said.
Abdullahi said the seemingly fragile
cohesion existing within the new administration would be tested with the presence
of the AU forces.
"As
you have had the ministers who have been squabbling over internal cabinet
issues in public with one saying the troops should go out of the country and
the foreign minister saying that there should be more troops. So, it seems that
there is no cohesion within the government and I think this is the test time
for this new administration. Considering that it was created just recently and
these are issues of policy which have gone into disarray. So, in the short
period of time the cohesion of this new government would be tested in finding
out which side will best push the agenda," Abdullahi noted.
Meanwhile, the deployment of more peacekeeping troops in Somalia
after opposition groups have reportedly been using it as a rallying cause in
their fight against the AU peacekeepers in Somalia and, before their withdrawal
in January, the Ethiopian troops were seen by many Somalis as sworn enemy forces.
Abdullahi said ordinary Somalis are
suspicious of the presence of any foreign troops in the country.
"What
you have to see here is there is a substantial amount of Uganda troops close to
three thousand. In fact as we are speaking the real forces which are helping
the new government are in Mogadishu or otherwise the new administration would
have been driven out of the city. So, an increase in number from three thousand
to let's say eight thousand, would have some logistical challenges in the form
of financing or funding. There is also the issue of huge increases of groups,
which some people think they would be used for other agendas," Abdullahi pointed out.
The Somali
Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdulahi Omar last Friday urged the United Nations
Security Council to support the deployment of three more battalions from Uganda
and Burundi, to reinforce the nearly 3,400 peacekeepers from the two countries
now based in Mogadishu, the Somali capital. But Sheikh Bashir Ahmed Salad, who
is the chairman of the Somali Islamic Scholars Association, said his
organization was unanimously opposed to any further deployment of foreign
forces in Somalia.
The scholars' group,
which previously recommended to the Somali government that the African Union
peacekeepers be sent back to their respective countries, is one of the
staunchest supporters of the new government dominated by moderate Islamists.