African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane
Lamamra called President Abdullahi Yusuf’s resignation as president of Somalia a
necessary act of self-sacrifice. In a
telephone interview with VOA’s Peter Heinlein, Lamamra said the Somali leader
had become an obstacle to efforts to bring stability to the lawless Horn of
Africa nation.
Lamamra said Yusuf’s decision clears
the way for actions that could prevent the country from descending into chaos
as Ethiopian troops withdraw.It could
permit creation of a broader-based government of national unity, as called for
in an accord signed in Djibouti in October with moderate Islamists from the
Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia.
“Yusuf may have come himself to the conclusion that his
presence as head of state would not serve the cause of peace and reconciliation
in Somalia,”Lamamra said, “and he may
have felt he eventually became part of the problem rather than part of the
solution…and in political life, individuals have to make sacrifice when it
comes to the supreme interests of the country.”
Ethiopia previously announced plans to withdraw more than
3,000 troops supporting the United Nations-backed transitional government. The Ethiopian pullout leaves only a 3,400-strong
African Union peacekeeping force, leading to fears that the increasingly weak
government would collapse and be replaced by Islamic extremists.
Lamamra says he also expects the United Nations Security
Council to act within 48 hours to pledge what he calls ‘a very concrete
logistical package’ that would strengthen the A.U. peacekeeping force known as
AMISOM. He tells VOA a vote of support
from Security Council would encourage greater African troop contributions, in
the hope that the force would eventually become a blue-helmeted U.N. force.