Somalia seeks greater engagement by Japan in peace-building process+

TOKYO, Feb. 9 Kyodo -
The visiting foreign minister of the Somali transitional government called
Tuesday for greater engagement by Japan in the peace-building process in the
African country, which remains a hotbed of Islamist insurgents and pirates.
In an interview with Kyodo News, Ali Ahmed Jama Jangeli, the minister of the
Somali transitional federal government that was established in 2005, expressed
his appreciation for Japan's additional aid of $35.2 million for purposes such
as police assistance and infrastructure maintenance, saying Tokyo is ''showing
renewed interest in Somalia and that is very good.''
However, he expressed hope that Japan will expand its areas of assistance and
engage in long-term support for the Horn of Africa nation, which he believes
has ''strategic importance'' and is ''potentially rich'' with many natural
resources.
''There are a lot of investment opportunities in the future. We want Japan to
be engaged in Somalia now and in the future,'' said the foreign minister, who
is visiting Japan for the first time. He especially called for Tokyo's help in
rebuilding roads, schools and hospitals, and providing water and sanitation in
areas where fighting has ceased.
Somalia has been wracked by violence for much of the past 20 years since the
collapse of the central government in 1991.
The transitional government is yet to establish effective control over the
whole country and has been fighting against the Islamist rebel group al-Shabab,
which is believed to be linked to the al-Qaida network. The insurgents control
much of southern and central Somalia.
Japan does not recognize the transitional government due to its lack of control
over the whole nation but has extended $85.2 million in aid to Somalia through
international organizations since 2007, excluding the fresh support announced
by Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Monday.
Tokyo has also dispatched vessels to engage in antipiracy operations in the
region.
The foreign minister pointed out that al-Shabab and pirates are ''not only the
threat to Somalia but they are the threat to the region and beyond.''
''We want everybody to contribute in the fight against pirates and in the fight
against these terrorists because they will eventually endanger lives in other
places in this global age,'' he said. ''It's cost-effective to do it now. We're
the first line of defense. We must defeat them so that others in the region and
beyond are safe.''
The minsiter said he anticipates that the Untied Nations will eventually send a
peacekeeping force to replace the current African Union troops, saying the
international community has ''the responsibility to help us defeat those
(rebel) forces.'' ''We can't do it alone,'' he said.
In January last year, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a
resolution that basically agreed on the need to deploy a U.N. peacekeeping
force in Somalia. But the force is yet to be dispatched to the country.
==Kyodo