Somalia’s President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, on a visit to London yesterday, stirred hopes that his government will make progress against al Shabab. At The Guardian, Simon Tisdale wonders, “Is the tide turning?” Tisdale does not offer substantial evidence that Sheikh Ahmed’s Transitional Federal Government possesses the firepower to deliver a knockout blow to al Shabab, but he does show that Sheikh Ahmed’s stock remains high in Britain and the US:
The new cash, and the red-carpet treatment afforded Sharif during his London visit (including a Downing Street meeting with Gordon Brown), reflect cautiously rising hopes in Whitehall and Washington that the former Islamic Courts Union leader, who opposed the US-backed Ethiopian intervention in 2006 and was viewed as hostile to the west, could be the man to drag Somalia back from the brink.
Unlike numerous predecessors who vied for power following the collapse of Somalia’s central government 19 years ago, Sharif’s presidency rests on his election by Somalia’s parliament-in-exile in Djibouti last year. Diplomats say this gives him unusual legitimacy and authority among Somalia’s notoriously fractious clans, although deep divisions persist.
Sharif has won praise from western governments and the African Union for his attempts to create viable institutions and financial accountability. One notable move was the hiring of accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers to track donor funds. “They (the TFG) are working hard in re-establishing state institutions … they are making progress, working some specific budgets for the first time,” said Wafula Wamunyinyi of the AU commission for Somalia.
International support will be key to any TFG attempt to take control over Mogadishu and southern Somalia. That’s why Sheikh Ahmed has said he would welcome US air support in the upcoming assault on al Shabab.
I wish the TFG all the best. But at the same time, I wonder why the US and the AU have taken such a strict stance against Islamists in Somalia. Their draconian application of Shariah law is appalling, no doubt about that. But they seem to have de facto power and control in most of Somalia (outside of Somaliland and Puntland). May be the AU and the US should consider casting ideology aside and entertain the idea of inviting these groups to the negotiating table.
Deposing the Union of Islamic Courts government was a mistake. They had a terrible human rights record, but so do the likes of Meles Zenawi and the Saudis. Those concerned should in the very least admit to themselves that this was a mistake and adjust their approach to dealing with al-shabab and other Islamist movements in Somalia.
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