Vietnam supports the efforts of AMISOM

New York (VNA) – Vietnam supports the efforts of the African Union and the
African Union’s Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to maintain stability and
security in and around Mogadishu in hazardous circumstances.

Ambassador Le Luong Minh, Vietnam ’s Permanent Representative to the UN
Security Council, stated this at the council’s briefing on Somalia in New
York on October 8.

“We welcome and support the decision by the African Union to increase AMISOM’s
strength to its mandated troop levels and its call for the international community
to continue supporting AMISOM’s deployment and operations,” he said.

He also confirmed that Vietnam supports the approach set out in the
Secretary-General’s April report, which asks the Department for Peacekeeping
Operations, in consultation with the African Union, to continue with its efforts
to develop and refine existing contingency plans that will allow for an eventual
transition from AMISOM to a UN peacekeeping operation if the security conditions
on the ground permit.

The Vietnamese ambassador who chaired the council’s briefing called for close
cooperation and an effective partnership between the United Nations Political
Office for Somalia (UNPOS), the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development
(IGAD), the African Union (AU) and the League of Arab States (LAS) in dealing with
the situation in Somalia with a view to bringing about lasting peace and security
throughout the region.

Minh applauded the significant progress made by the Transitional Federal
Government (TFG) in fostering national reconciliation, sustaining dialogue with
opposition groups, improving the capacity of local government and building up a
national security apparatus.

He praised President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s initiative to establish a Commission
for Security and Pacification, which is tasked with reforming Somalia ’s
security forces and all law enforcement agencies.

“We welcome his commitment to fully implement the Djibouti Agreement in order to
find a lasting peace in this war-torn country and call upon all opposition groups
which remain outside the Djibouti Agreement to put down their arms, renounce
violence and join the reconciliation process,” he said.

The Vietnamese representative, however, expressed his concern about the
deteriorating humanitarian situation in Somalia , with more than 250 thousand
people displaced and 3.7 million people in dire need of humanitarian support due
to intense fighting in Mogadishu , growing insecurity in much of southern and
central Somalia and drought.

He also called upon the international community to provide immediate and concrete
support to the TFG to repel the onslaught of extremist forces, which are intent on
destroying the Djibouti peace process, and enable the Government to exercise
its authority throughout the country for the sake of the Somali people.

On the same day, as the UNSC President, Ambassador Minh issued the council’s
press statement condemning a terrorist attack near the Indian Embassy in Kabul
, Afghanistan.-Enditem