Somalia seeks donor funds to fight piracy and boost security

He warned that response to piracy cannot only be a military response and it would not be a lasting response without determined action from the international community tackling the root causes. He said Al-Shabaab was one of the groups opposing policies of the new government of national unity led by Sheikh Ahmed.

“They want Amisom forces to leave the country and that Somalia be ruled by Islamic laws, and not the secular Transitional Federal Charter,” he Mr Bwakira. He said clannism was fanning animosity in Somalia and added that many moderate Islamists and clan elders were trying to mediate between the government and its radical Islamist opponents.

Mr Bwakira said a political stability in Somalia needs more than a political approach and agreements in various African capitals. “It needs the international community’s determination to have a security presence that will allow a real national reconciliation conference inside Somalia that leads to a government that belongs to the Somali people” he said. So far, 22 AU peacekeepers have been killed in Somalia.

Responding to the quit order by al Shabaab, Mr Bwakira said: “Somalia is a sovereign country. We were invited by the government and this was re-affirmed by the new president, that is what we go by, not al-Shabaab threats.” Meanwhile, six US aid agencies working in Somalia have appealed to US President Barack Obama to respond to the humanitarian crisis.

American Friends Service Committee, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam America, Refugees International and World Concern said in a statement “the country remains in the midst of a severe humanitarian crisis,” with three million people in need of emergency assistance.

They said “the humanitarian crisis requires massive support from the international community and in particular the US.” The agencies said only US$251 million had been raised despite the consolidated humanitarian appeal for 2009 of $918 million. The low response to the appeal could force aid agencies to scale back life-saving programmes in parts of the country.