By NNN-ENA,
Addis Ababa : The Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, Ali Mohammed Ghedi, says the war is over and terrorist elements in Mogadishu have been totally defeated.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in a report monitored here quoted Ghedi as saying that the situation in Mogadishu was very calm and the displaced families were going back to their houses in Mogadishu over the past few days.
“In the last four days, there is no single bullet (flying) in the capital city. If these people are moving everywhere, it is proof that they have confidence to stay in their houses and start their daily activities,� he told the BBC in an interview broadcast Tuesday.
The government is in control of the whole country now, he added.
Meanwhile, Ugandan Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga called on those who are threatening war in Somalia to prepare themselves for peaceful dialogue. He called on all stakeholders to come to the National Reconciliation Conference and negotiate.
“Come to the round table, come to negotiate, come to dialogue with fellow Somali people who can stabilize the country and agree on how to govern themselves,” he said in an interview with the BBC.
“We want to make sure the warring factions in Somalia reconcile or hold dialogue and agree on how to run their country,� he added.
Protecting the TFG government and its institutions as well as quieting the environment are the two-fold mission of the African Union, according to the minister.
About 1,400 Ugandan troops are serving in the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, the only contingent in the force so far.
In another report Monday, the BBC also quoted Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf as saying that hundreds of Somalis displaced during the recent fighting in Mogadishu have been returning to their homes.
The first talks since Ethiopian forces and troops of the TFG of Somalia defeated fundamentalist militias fighters took place on Sunday with the Somali president and Hawiye elders agreeing to a ceasefire and more talks, the BBC reported.
“People are in dire need of every thing from water to medicine to food to shelter,� the BBC quoted Lieutenant General Katumba Wamala, commnader of the AU peacekeeping force, as saying.
“Unfortunately the international community has deserted Somalia and I want make a call, this is not time to desert the Somali community, this is the time when Somali people need more (help),� BBC quoted Wamala as saying.
President Abdullahi Yusuf also asked the international community to extend assistance to Somalia, saying that Somalia urgently needs humanitarian aid.
The Transitional Federal Government was formed in 2004 in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Somalia had been without a central functioning government since the overthrow of the late Somali ruler, Mohamed Siyad Barre, in 1991.
Meanwhile, the recent calm condition in Somalia allows the humanitarian agencies to reach some of the many Somalis who have been displaced in Somalia, the Voce of American (VOA) reported Monday from Nairobi.
The Spokesman for the World food Programme (WFP), Peter Smerdon told the VOA that things have got better in Somalia, but thought they needed to get better to reach a lot more people.
The spokesman said thousands of Somalis are starting to return to Mogadishu.
“We were able to fly a passenger aircraft from the UN common humanitarian air service, which the WFP manages, to K-50, which is an airstrip 50 km south of Mogadishu. This was the first time we were able to use K-50 since December, when there was also fighting,� VOA quoted the spokesman as saying.
The spokesman said the TFG has confirmed flights to all airstrip in to Somalia to reach these people displaced by the fighting in Mogadishu.
On Thursdays and Friday of last week, the WFP sent 320 tons of food from Mogadishu and were able to distribute it without any incidents to 32,000 people or more at six sites west of Mogadishu, he told the VOA.