Brandishing their medals and uniforms, Barre's soldiers and officers kept pouring into hastily set up camps in Mogadishu for their rehabilitation. Both military groups were assembled to attract donor funds. With millions of dollars denominated as DRP funds already earmarked by Kofi Annan for Abdiqasim's troops, Siyad Barre's former minister of interior seems to have never been a happier man. The international community is succumbing and ready to meet all the financial costs needed for sheltering, feeding and paying the personnel of his military forces. Last week, the UN chose not to be an onlooker when Libyan arms and military logistics arrived at Balidogle airport, about 100 km to the southwest of Mogadishu.
Arms financed by Qatar and Sudan are next to arrive soon.
Politically, a genuine national reconciliation must have been achieved with a broad-based central authority in place to plan, implement and coordinate the disarmament and demobilization exercise. Of course, none of these terms and conditions are found applicable to the ongoing assembling of forces at Mogadishu. The intention of Abdiqasim and his UN sponsors has never been the down sizing of armed forces. Copyright 1999 by somaliawatch.org . All Rights Reserved.