From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:SOMALIA: WESTERN ENVOYS WELCOME CEASE-FIRE, DISARMAMENT ACCORDS
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 23:52:17 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Disarmament & Peace
Title: SOMALIA: WESTERN ENVOYS WELCOME CEASE-FIRE, DISARMAMENT ACCORDS


nairobi, jan 16 (ips/horace awori) -- western diplomats in kenya
saturday welcomed the cease-fire and disarmament agreements
signed by the 14 somali warlords in addis ababa, ethiopia,
friday.

spokespersons for the u.s. and british embassies in this
kenyan capital told ips the accords were a major boost for peace
and a significant step toward reconciliation in war-battered
somalia.

the agreements were reached after long and difficult talks
which began jan. 4 in addis ababa, which is also the seat of the
50-member organisation of african unity (oau).

a communique issued at the end of the talks and faxed to ips
here late friday says the warring factions have agreed to an
immediate cease-fire.

they have also agree to surrender all their heavy weaponry to
an international cease-fire monitoring group which will keep the
weapons until ''such time as a legitimate somali government can
take them over''.

the monitoring group will consist of personnel from the u.n.
international technical assitance force (unitaf) and u.n.
troops, and will work together with a committee composed of
representatives of the warring factions.

disarmament is to start immediately and be completed by
the end of march. the armed units will be disarmed
simultaneously throughout the country.

the various militia groups are to be ''camped in appropriate
areas outside major towns so that they pose no difficulties for
peace'', the communique says.

the warlords called on the international community to provide
the upkeep for the disarmed militias and to assist in preparing
them for demobilisation.

the groups also agreed in principle to the return to lawful
owners of properties unlawfully taken during the three-year
civil strife.

under the agreements, all prisoners of war are to be freed
immediately and handed over to the international committee of
the red cross (icrc) or to unitaf.

on the tricky question of who should take part in the mar. 15
national reconciliation conference in addis ababa, the warlords
set up an ad hoc committee to ''resolve the criteria and
agenda''. (more/ips)


somalia: diplomats (2)

the ad hoc committee, with offices in addis ababa and
mogadishu, the somali capital, starts meeting jan. 22.

the nairobi representative of one of the somali factions,
abdulatif afdub of the somali patriotic movement (spm), told ips
saturday: ''many somalis in exile and in refugee camps welcome
the developments in addis ababa''.

afdub describes the cease-fire and disarmament accords as
''necessary and vital steps for peace and national
reconciliation in somalia''.

he hopes, however, all the warlords will honour the accords.
''it will be a cruel blow to our starving people if any of the
leaders get back to their areas and ignore the accords''.

but the u.n. and western relief agencies are subdued in their
reactions to the addis ababa accords because of the killing of
the icrc delegate in berdhera, kurt hustenberger, thursday
night.

thirty-two-year-old hustenberger was shot in the head by one
of three armed men who burst into the icrc compound and demanded
money.

''the icrc is shocked and saddened by the tragedy and
expresses its deepest sympathy to hustenberger's family'', the
icrc says in a statement issued here saturday.

hustenberger is the second foreign aid worker to be gunned
down in somalia since the u.s.-led force went into somalia dec.
9 under ''operation restore hope''.

two weeks ago, a briton, paul devereaux (28) of the u.n.
children's fund (unicef) was shot dead by gunmen in kismayu,
southern somalia.

there are now about 34,000 foreign troops in somalia, 24,000
of them from the united states -- under ''operation restore
hope''. but security problems still abound because many somalis
possess all sorts of weapons.

the u.s.-led force has carried out a number of swoops in
mogadishu and captured many weapons but a lot more weapons
remain in the hands of ''gangsters'' and ''bandits''.

many relief officials are worried that a quick hand over by
the u.s.-led force to u.n. peacekeeping troops without an effort
to disarm the ''bandits'' may spell further tragedy in the
strife-torn eastern african country. (end/ips/ha/apc/93)