July 4, 2000
A prominent Somali warlord on Tuesday accused the United Nations of fuelling hostilities in his country through its support of talks taking place in Djibouti. "The unwise UN Security Council support for the formation of a non-representative government would fuel hostilities to the highest point," Osman Hassan Ali "Atto", whose men control parts of southern Mogadishu, told AFP.
He was referring to talks being held in Djibouti with a view to setting up a transitional government in Somalia. This initiative has largely sidelined the country's powerful warlords, who have controlled the country since the collapse of the central government in 1991. Last week the UN Security Council said it "fully supported" the Djibouti initiative.
"Our people are not ready to accept domination by outsiders, and would use the last drop of their blood to fight Djibouti's interference in Somalia's affairs," Atto warned. "It is not the responsibility of the Security Council to take emotional and partial decisions that could risk the lives of people in Somalia after ignoring the realities on the ground," he said. "I am not against peace, but the Djibouti meeting could establish a government in exile and not one able to govern Somalia," Atto warned.
"The Djibouti government is using the occasion to grab money from unsuspecting (donor) governments. "My supporters fought dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and two years later battled with misguided UN peacekeepers from 23 nations," Atto said, referring to a botched UN-US intervention in Somalia.
