SOMALIS IN ASMARA ISSUE COMMUNIQU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASMARA 000379 SIPDIS SIPDIS LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHERS PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958 DECL: N/A TAGS: PREL PINR SO ER SUBJECT: SOMALIS IN ASMARA ISSUE COMMUNIQU ASMARA 00000379 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. On April 17, Poloff received a copy via email of a joint communiqu issued by Hussein Aideed, Somali TFG Deputy Prime Minister, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of the Council of Islamic Courts and Sharif Hassen Sheikh Adan, the exiled Somali Parliament Speaker. Poloff confirmed with Aideed that the group will be holding a press conference in Asmara at 1400 on April 17 and report will follow septel. ¶2. The text of the communiqu issued in English follows below. Begin text: Joint Communiqu Following intensive talks on the current situation in Somalia and on exploring viable ways to promote reconciliation between the various groups in Somalia, Mr. Sherif Hassen Sheikh Adem, Chairman of the Somali Parliament, Mr. Hussein Mohammed Farah Aidid, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Somali Public Works, and Sheikh Sherif Sheikh Ahmed, Chairman of the Executive Council of the Union of Islamic Courts of Somalia (UIC) reached the following: We express our sincere gratitude to H.E. Isaias Afwerki, President of the State of Eritrea and the Eritrean people for the positive role they are playing in finding peaceful solutions to the Somali people. We send our deepest condolences to the Somali people and to the families of martyrs that have made grave sacrifices for the defense of the religion, nation, dignity and freedom. And we pray to God Almighty to grant the martyrs Paradise His abode and inspire their families with resolute patience and fortitude. We congratulate the heroic people of Somalia, and their victorious resistance, and we call upon all citizens everywhere to oppose the Ethiopian occupation, defend their country and guarantee the freedom and independence of the nation. We condemn the brutal occupation of Ethiopia in Somalia and call for its immediate withdrawal from sovereign Somali territory. We condemn the atrocities committed from Thursday 29th March to the 1st of April 2007 by the Ethiopian armed forces that have resulted in the killing of approximately 1,086 civilians and wounding of 4,244 sustaining various light and serious injuries. We condemn the destructive actions undertaken by the Deputy Secretary of State for African Affairs, which incited Ethiopian SIPDIS troops to continue down its path of destruction and genocide against defenseless civilians via promising financial and political support to continue its illegitimate war and devote Ethiopian brutal occupation. We ask the international community and the United Nations to establish a special International Tribunal in the search for the crimes committed against the Somali people and prosecute the criminals responsible for these hideous crimes. We condemn Ethiopia for establishing detention camps in its territory like that of 'Guantanamo Bay' in Cuba, where innocent people are being tortured. We inform the world that the Ugandan troops currently in Somali Capital is a 'Trojan Horse' for the unjust Ethiopian occupation. We regret and condemn the stand of Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda in the Ministerial Meeting of IGAD member states that was held on Friday April 13, 2007 against the independence and sovereignty of Somalia, where they praised and incited the brutal assault carried out by the Ethiopian troops in Somalia. We commend the honest and genuine approach of the governments of Eritrea, Sudan and Djibouti towards their view in the Somali issue. We request the concerned local and International humanitarian ASMARA 00000379 002.2 OF 002 organizations to deliver urgent relief supplies to displaced Somalis everywhere in particular food and medical treatments because concentration of human population formed suddenly may result in sweeping epidemics such as cholera and Typhoid. We bless the meeting, which was held in the city of Leicester; United Kingdom from 6th to 8th April 2007 organized by the Somali communities living abroad including intellectuals and politicians that focused for consulting on unifying the views on the Ethiopian occupation of Somalia, and bless the communiqu reached during the meeting. We also urge all citizens to unite the Somali order to be able to overcome the challenges the country is going through. Thank you Asmara, 17th April 2007 End text. DELISI