U.S. Official Issues Upbeat Assessment of African Union Summit

State’s Frazer says watchword was cooperation on Somalia, Sudan issues

By Jim Fisher-Thompson
USINFO Staff Writer

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer wrapped up a busy schedule of meetings at a summit of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by highlighting cooperative efforts on nettlesome issues like conflict in Sudan and Somalia.

Speaking at a January 30 press conference in the Ethiopian capital, Frazer said she had "excellent consultations" on Somalia and Sudan, as well as on a range of other issues important to achieving stability on the continent.

"We have also had good consultations on our partnership on regional peacekeeping, on economic development and on elections support," she said. The last was important, the official added, because West Africa alone has 11 elections coming up this next year.

On Sudan, Frazer said the focus of her consultations was on speeding up the three phases of the “Addis Ababa package” of peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts -- "the light assistance package, the heavy package of enabling forces, and the AU-U.N. hybrid force."

The United Nations has mandated a larger peacekeeping force to augment the 7,000 AU forces that are overstretched in Sudan trying to maintain peace in Darfur while monitoring parts of the North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The United States has a lot at stake in trying to speed up the deployment of this hybrid force, she told journalists, because "we spend about $1.3 billion annually in Sudan -- half in Darfur, half in Southern Sudan."

SOMALIA

Turning to Somalia, where a radical Islamist force was defeated recently with the help of the Ethiopian military, Frazer said the United States is "very happy" with AU members Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Burundi and Uganda, who have volunteered peacekeepers to replace the Ethiopians with an AU-mandated force called the African Union Mission in Somalia.

She again mentioned the U.S. decision to provide $40 million for the reconstruction of war-torn Somalia, noting that $14 million will go to support the new AU peacekeeping force. She also reiterated that $10 million would go for development assistance "to build the capacity of the Transitional Federal Government [TFG]."

Asked if she supported talks between Somalia's transitional government and the radical Islamist Council of Islamic Courts (CIC), Frazer emphasized that "the U.S. government has never asked the TFG to negotiate with terrorists. That is not our position. What we have said is that there are individuals who were members of the Council of Islamic Courts … who come out of the organic Islamic courts, who should be part of an inclusive dialogue as individuals. But we do not support the reconstitution of the Council of Islamic Courts."

Commenting on the report of a jihadist Web site threatening to attack any peacekeepers that enter Somalia, Frazer said: "It doesn’t surprise me that you would find that type of extremist message on a Web site. It’s been there throughout. Clearly, the Council of Islamic Courts made such threats against the Ethiopians and against the Transitional Federal Government.

"That very same Council of Islamic Courts was thoroughly defeated militarily. The real message behind it is to try to intimidate the African Union and the international community not to assist the people of Somalia," she added.

Frazer said the U.S. commitment to Somalia is "long-term," in part "to prevent Somalia from becoming a threat to its neighbors in terms of regional stability, and from becoming a safe haven for terrorists."

Commenting on Eritrean support for the CIC, Frazer said, "The government of Eritrea was providing arms and providing fighters and training the al Shabaab militia of the CIC, which was the most extremist arm of the CIC."

In the future, she said, "we would hope that the government of Eritrea would play a constructive role in terms of trying to support the Transitional Federal Government and not continue to support remnants of the CIC that are bent on terror or insurgency."

Frazer also complimented the new AU chairman, President John Kufuor of Ghana, noting, "He is a man of great experience, great standing on this continent, and we are looking forward to the year ahead working with the AU."

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