Somalia.

• Position: UN's peacekeeping efforts - Peacewatch

All fictions in Somalia should cease immediately all hostilities and cooperate with efforts for peace and national reconciliation, the Security Council stressed on 26 February.

In a statement by Council President Njuguna M. Mahugu of Kenya, it expressed full support for the efforts of regional and other interested States, as well as those of international and regional organizations, to promote a direct political dialogue and facilitate a broad-based political settlement in Somalia.

The Council reaffirmed its commitment to a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the situation in Somalia. However, it said that responsibility for achieving national reconciliation and restoring peace rested with the Somali people, and it called on the factions "to cease immediately all hostilities and to cooperate with the regional and other efforts for peace and national reconciliation in Somalia".

The Council also encouraged all States to "contribute generously" to United Nations humanitarian appeals in order to ensure continued relief and rehabilitation activities, and to regional mediation efforts. It called on the Somali factions to ensure the safety and freedom of movement of humanitarian personnel and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian relief, and reiterated its earlier call for States to implement the embargo on all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Somalia, imposed by Council resolution 733 (1992).

It encouraged the Secretary-General to continue his consultations with the Somali parties, regional States and organizations on the role the United Nations can play in supporting the peace efforts. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a 17 February report, had offered a number of recommendations on the role the United Nations could play in support of regional efforts for peace in Somalia, based in part on the indications of Somali leaders and regional actors. He asked the Council to consider enhanced relief and rehabilitation assistance, including "an insistent call on Member States to contribute more generously" to United Nations appeals. He also asked that it "serve notice" that the Council "recognizes the will of the Somalis represented by those who signed the Sodere and Nairobi declarations".

Two declarations, signed in Sodere, Ethiopia on 3 January, set up a National Salvation Council of 41 members selected from all political movements represented at the meeting. They also established an 11-member National Executive Committee, led by...