Hiiraan Online
Monday, February 1, 2016
MOGADISHU (HOL) – Foreign ministers of the East African bloc IGAD have called for the Somali government to rapidly conclude the remaining Hiraan and Middle Shabelle state formation process despite boycott by Hiiiraan elders.
Hiiraan elders opposed the conference in Jowhar, the regional capital of Lower Shabelle region accused Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of breaking promises related to their attendance to the talks.
In a statement issued Saturday evening, IGAD Council of Ministers who held their 55th Extra-Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa also called Somali government to conclude the on-going dialogue and reconciliation between the Galmudug Federal State and Ahlu SunnaWal Jamaa (ASWJ).
In addition, the ministers commended Somali government’s recent decision to fast-track public financial management reform within the security sector and urged the swift implementation and international support to the initiative.
“AMISOM’s exit and the IGAD region’s security is directly linked to the ability of the Federal Government of Somalia to predictably finance and manage its security forces and institutions.” The
statement said.
The minsters also recommended the establishment of a Regional Security Co-operation Framework between Somalia and its neighbors and the establishment of a platform for regular security dialogue and co-ordination to address common security threats and challenges.
The Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabab group which is fighting Somali government and the African Union forces in Somalia continues to carry out attacks across Somalia and beyond.
The group has concentrated Kenya for most of its attacks in retaliation for Kenyan troops’ deployment in Somalia in 2011, as the allied forces ousted militants from dozens of towns including the once major rebel-held port city of Kismayo.
READ THE COMMUNIQUE OF THE 55THEXTRA-ORDINARY SESSION OF THE IGAD
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS - ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, JANUARY 30 - 31, 2016