Sana’a Ministerial meeting demands lift of arm embargo on Somalia [Archives:2006/944/Front Page]
By: Ismail Al-Ghabiri
SANA'A, May 7 ) The Sana'a Ministerial meeting issued their final communique in Sana'a on Thursday May 4. The Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, the Sudanese foreign Minister, the Ethiopian Foreign Minister and Foreign Minister of the Somali interim government attended the meeting.
The ministers issued the following decisions at the end of their meetings.
A secretariat that coordinates and organizes the affairs of the Sana'a Ministerial meeting is to be established, with Sana'a as its central base. Yemen will assume presidency of the secretariat and the other countries should send their representatives to work in this secretariat.
The secretariat should submit their structure and provisions that regulate their activity and budget to the next executive meeting for approval. The countries of the southern Red Sea and the African Horn should be invited to join the group in line with the aims it is established for, which are peace and stability in the area. The ministers agreed to expand the cooperation scope to include the cultural, educational, scientific and social sectors. They asked the economic committee to finish drafting the agreements, which were submitted to Aden's meeting in December 2005. This is in addition to the activation of programs that will promote scientific, cultural and social cooperation among the countries. They also asked the economic committee to finish establishing the free market agreement between the member countries. The member countries will abide by the democratic process, human rights and the fighting terrorism in the member countries.
Efforts are to be exerted to protect peace and stability in the area and to achieve the sustainable developments in the member countries and the other countries in the southern Red Sea area and the African Horn.
They confirmed their support to peaceful resolve of conflicts among the countries in the area. The ministers assured their endeavor to find a permanent resolve to the conflict over borders between Ethiopia and Eritrea. They insisted on adopting peaceful dialogue and diplomacy to resolve it.
The ministers called on the international community to support the comprehensive security plan that was prepared by Somali interim government. It was also approved by IGAD and the African Union to restore peace and order in Somalia. The meeting called on the donor countries and the international organizations to furnish quick relief to reduce the desertification effects that struck the Somalis. They also asked the donor countries to live up to their commitments by fulfilling their promised supports for rebuilding Somalia. The meeting called the conflicting parties in Mogadishu to give precedence to the country's interests and stop fighting, to enable the international community to support Somalia to rebuild itself. The Ministerial meeting called the Security Council to lift the imposed arm embargo on Somalia in order to enable the interim Somali government, the IGAD and the African Union to restore peace in Somalia. The meeting called for cooperation and coordination between the member countries to stop the piracy and terror activities in Somalia territorial waters and the other member countries, which threaten to destabilize sea transport and international trade in the area. They called the international community to support the member countries to develop the capacity of their coast guard forces. The Ministers assured their support to the Somali interim government and parliament to build the country's security forces and institutions. They stressed the importance of facing those who try to undermine the efforts of rebuilding. The meeting praised the Sudanese government's efforts to carry out the peace agreement provisions and their interest to come to a final solution to the conflict in Darfur. The ministers expressed hope that the Abuja peace talks should succeed in reaching a peace deal that leads to a comprehensive peace, which preserves Sudan's unity. The meeting demanded that the international community should live up to their commitments by providing their pledges to rebuild Sudan. They assured that the delay in handing over these pledges contributed to the delay of implementation of the agenda of the reconciliation. They also asked the international community to continue supporting the Palestinians and respect their democratic option. The ministers declared their insistence on the Arab peace initiative and the related international decisions for the establishment of a Palestinian state, which will restore peace in the Middle East.
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