Prelate calls for greater international attention to Somalia

September 05, 2013

The apostolic administrator of Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, has called for greater international attention to the plight of Somalia, whose president recently survived an assassination attempt.

Somalia has lacked an effective national government since the early 1990s. A transitional federal government, backed by international forces, has struggled to establish control, fighting both local warlords and the Islamic forces of Al Shabaab.

The militants of Al-Shabaab and other groups have “targeted government and foreign organization representatives and their staff,” said Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti, according to a Fides report. “This is because they want to destabilize the Somali institutions in the reconstruction phase. The new federal government is already destabilized by internal disputes on federalism and other issues.”

“At least at an international community level, it is necessary to be more compact,” he added. “In particular, regional powers, especially Kenya and Ethiopia, I hope convince themselves that it is important to have a strong Somali state instead of the current chaotic situation.”

 

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Further information:

• Mgr. Bertin: "I hope in authentic dialogue with regards to the need for everybody to get out of the crisis in Somalia" (Fides)