Yemen hails UN-backed Somali ceasefire

SANA'A, Oct 30 (Saba) - Yemen has welcomed the signing of a
ceasefire between the Somali Transition Government and opposition
coalition that calls for halting all military operations as of 5
November 2008, the mouthpiece of Defense ministry September 26 said
on Thursday.

The truce also calls for deploying joint forces from the government
and opposition within 25 days, starting from the timing of the
withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from the country.

A source at the Foreign ministry has called on the Somali parties to
implement the cease-fire and put their country interests ahead of
their own ones.

The source also suggested that the international community send
peacekeepers to enable the Somali parties, which signed the deal,
to maintain stability and help them put an end to the soaring piracy
threatening international ships in the sea routes in the Arabian Sea
and the Gulf of Aden.

The source hopes that all the Somali factions agree on the truce
which was signed in Djibouti and backed by the UN to protect
Somalia's unity and interests.

The UN sponsored talks between the Somali Transition Government and
opposition coalition which resulted in a ceasefire accord.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991
when then president was deposed and the civil conflict has killed
and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Instability and conflict in Somalia are of main factors leading to
soaring piracy with more than 30 vessels hijacked in this
year.

However, the international community responded to this
phenomenon through sending navy ships to work along with the
international forces stationed in the international waters near
Somalia and the Gulf of Aden to fight pirates and secure the sea
lines there.