SOMALIA-- TALKING POINTS FOR MARCH 5 BRIEFING

UNCLAS STATE 022378 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNSC PREL PHUM SO XA XW SUBJECT: SOMALIA-- TALKING POINTS FOR MARCH 5 BRIEFING ¶1. USUN is instructed to draw from the following points for the March 5 briefing on Somalia and Kenya: Begin points: -------------- Somalia -------------- -- We would like to thank the Secretariat for their briefing today on the situation in Somalia and Kenya. -- The United States is deeply concerned about the continued violence occurring in Somalia. Over the past several months, attacks by violent extremists on the TFG and Ethiopian forces, as well as TFG security operations, have resulted in a significant outflow of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the city of Mogadishu. Some NGOs estimate only 60% of city's population remains. -- The United States reiterates its call for all parties to engage in a non-violent process with a goal of reaching a lasting solution. The people of Somalia have suffered for too long. We commend the efforts of political, religious, business, and clan leaders, including the efforts under the new TFG administration of Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein in coordination with SRSG Ould-Abdallah, to put aside their differences and work toward a solution for the good of the Somali people. -- We stress the need for all Somali stakeholders to not allow the efforts of extremist elements or the setback of recent clashes around Bakara Market to deter from the overriding objective of achieving lasting peace and stability in Somalia. -- We are encouraged by the recent efforts of Prime Minister Hussein, in coordination with SRSG Ould-Abdallah, to resume the dialogue process with key Somali stakeholders, as well as resume the transitional process outlined by the Transitional Federal Charter. We encourage all members of the Security Council and UN member-states to support efforts towards national elections in 2009. -- Once again, we commend the brave and noble work of AMISOM, especially the 1800 Ugandans and 850 Burundian peacekeepers already on the ground. We thank the Government of Uganda and President Museveni for his public commitment of an additional 1600 peacekeepers to bolster the mission. We urge all AU members who have made public commitments to the mission to fulfill their pledge and deploy as soon as possible. We encourage all AU members to consider contributing to this important African mission. Likewise, we urge all UN members to provide financial resources, personnel, equipment and logistical support for this critical mission and enable the rapid deployment of additional troop contributions. -- The United States looks forward to the Secretary General's report on Somalia due to be released on March 10. We are especially anxious to see in the report the development of contingency plans for a possible deployment of a UN peacekeeping operations to succeed AMISOM, including the report of the Technical Assessment Mission DPKO recently dispatched to Somalia. -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) states that 1.8 million Somalis are in need of humanitarian assistance, but that currently only 60,000 can be assisted by the humanitarian community. The United States calls on all parties in Somalia to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law and ensure unhindered access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. -- We note the commitment of Prime Minister Hussein to establish a single point of contact within the TFG administration, as well as a liaison officer at the Somali Embassy in Nairobi, to help strengthen coordination with the donor and NGO community and improve humanitarian access inside Somalia. We urge Prime Minister Hussein to implement this arrangement at the earliest possible opportunity. (If raised, points on March 2 missile strike on Somalia) -- On March 2, 2008 the United States conducted a military action against a known al-Qaeda terrorist in southern Somalia. -- We share common goals with our regional partners with respect to fighting terrorism. The TFG has requested U.S. assistance to combat terrorists in Somalia. -- We will continue to cooperate with the TFG and the Somali people to counter the terrorist threat, promote reconciliation with legitimate political opposition, address humanitarian needs, and develop effective institutions of governance. All these efforts are needed to achieve peace and long-term stability in Somalia -- We will continue to seek out, identify, capture, and if necessary, kill terrorists where they plan their activities, carry out their operations or seek safe harbor. (If raised, points for Somali piracy) -- The United States remains deeply concerned about acts of piracy occurring in territorial and international waters off the Somali coast. Incidents of piracy have increased dramatically over the last few years. No commercial vessel operating near the Somali Coast is safe from these acts. -- Waters off the coasts of Somali are some of the most heavily trafficked seas in the world. The pirates pose an increasing threat to international trade and navigation. -- The TFG does not have the capacity to protect naval vessels in its territorial waters and on February 27 asked the UNSC for assistance in combating the pirates. We believe the Security Council must respond to this request and look forward to working with the Council to address this problem. -------------- Kenya -------------- -- The United States again congratulates the people of Kenya and their leaders on the political agreement signed by President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga on February 28. The agreement demonstrated courage by both leaders to make compromises to find a solution for the good of the Kenyan people. -- Likewise we commend the efforts of the Panel of Eminent African Personalities, led by former Secretary General Kofi Annan, for their tremendous efforts in mediating an agreement between the parties. We expect both sides to live up to their commitments made in the agreement and implement it as soon as possible. -- We also recognize the ongoing negotiations on agenda item four under the auspices of former Nigerian foreign minister Oluyemi Adeniji. This agenda item encompasses a number of critical institutional reforms and underlying causes of the recent crisis. We urge the teams to address these important issues in a constructive spirit of compromise. -- Although a political agreement has been reached and violence has subsided in recent weeks, we continue to remain concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Kenya and especially about the hundreds of thousands of IDPs waiting to return to their communities. We applaud the international community's response to this humanitarian crisis and urge them to continue efforts to support these vulnerable populations. -- We condemn the recent violence in the Mount Elgon area and in Rift Valley province, and reiterate the urgent need to address land tenure and use laws and regulations, which are a major underlying cause of insecurity and interethnic violence in these areas. -- We recognize Kenya's legitimate national security concerns and its need to regulate its borders. We also note with appreciation Kenya's long-time hosting of refugees from Somalia and elsewhere in the region and the burden that the refugee population places on Kenyan resources. However, we remind the government of Kenya of its international treaty obligations and the need to provide appropriate access and screening of asylum seekers. RICE