Insights on Somalia
Council members met yesterday, 9 May, to discuss a draft presidential statement for tomorrow’s briefing on Somalia (apparently the UK circulated the draft to other Council members on Friday 6 May). It seems Council members were generally in agreement on the draft, although some members were hesitant about how openly to criticise the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
It seems the statement will note that the transitional period will end in August 2011 and regret the decision by the Somali transitional authorities to unilaterally extend their mandate. It will call for elections for the positions of president and speaker of parliament to be held before the end of the transitional period. The Council also apparently notes its regret over the TFG’s decision not to participate in the high-level consultative meeting convened by the Secretary-General’s special representative on Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, in Nairobi on 12 and 13 April and urges the TFG to support Mahiga’s efforts.
Finally, it is understood that the draft statement also calls for an increased UN presence in Mogadishu (something the TFG will welcome) and other parts of Somalia and expresses its full support for the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM), calling on the international community to urgently increase its contributions to AMISOM.
