Statement

by

H.E. Ambassador Le Luong Minh, Permanent Representative of Viet Nam,

at the Briefing of the Security Council on Somalia

New York - Wednesday, 29^th July,  2009

-------

 

Mr. President,

At the outset, I would like to thank Mr. Ahmedou Ould Abdallah for his briefing. I welcome the participation in the Council’s meeting today by H.E. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Somalia and H.E. Mr. Ramtane Lamamra, Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union and thank them for their presentations.

Mr. President,

My Delegation is pleased to note the political progress achieved under the Djibouti Agreement as reflected in the Secretary-General’s latest report. We commned and support the continued efforts undertaken by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed to encourage parties that are still outside the Djibouti Agreement to join the national reconciliation process to rebuild their war-torn country. We urge all groups that have yet to lay down their arms and join the peace and reconciliation process to do so.

Mr. President,

Despite those encouraging political developments, the security situation in Somalia remains deeply troubling. Attacks by insurgent groups, most notably Al-Shabaab, against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in and around Mogadishu have intensified. We strongly condemn the attempts by these groups to overthrow the legally constituted and internationally recognized Government by force and their recent attacks against the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Department of Safety and Security and the United Nations Political Office for Somalia.

We are particularly concerned about the extremely alarming humanitarian situation in Somalia with over one million people internally displaced and more than 3 million on the verge of starvation. As the continued fighting has worsened the humanitarian crisis, there is an urgent need for immediate and vigorous international support for the TFG’s endeavors to repel the onslaught of extremist forces, which are intent on destroying the Djibouti peace process and spoiling the efforts to bring peace and stability to Somalia through political reconciliation. My Delegation supports the Secretary-General’s call for Member States and regional organizations to expedite the provision of contributions to the United Nations Trust Funds and bilateral support pledged at the Brussels Conference to provide the TFG with adequate assistance to rebuild Somalia’s security institutions and train its security forces.

          We support the strenthening of AMISOM in order to enable it to withstand the insurgent attacks. We highly appreciate the efforts made by the Governments of Uganda and Burundi in contributing to the maintenance of security in Mogadishu. We are pleased to note that some other AU countries have pledged to contribute troops to AMISOM.

Mr. President,

Significant progress has been achieved by the international community in addressing the problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia. The cooperation and coordination exhibited by Member States in the fight against piracy in this region is proving to be effective. We still believe that, in the long run, the scourge of piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia will only be resolved thoroughly through an integrated approach that addresses the conflict, the lack of governance and the absence of sustainable livelihoods on land in Somalia.

Mr. President,

Stabilizing Somalia and delivering a negotiated peace settlement addressing the root causes of the conflict requires closer cooperation and a more effective partnership between the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union (AU) and the League of Arab States (LAS) in addressing the challenges that confront Somalia and to bring about a lasting peace and security in the region. We continue to support a strong role of the United Nations in strengthening this cooperation and partnership with a view to assisting the Government and people of Somalia to bring about peace and stability for this country. We cannot agree more with what has been said by H.E. the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Somalia which is that finally the issue of Somalia will have to be resolved by the Somalis.

I thank you, Mr. President./.