UNOSOM withdrawal completed 'virtually without a hitch': UN efforts save a quarter million lives.

• Position: United Nations Operation in Somalia - Includes related article on United Nations-Somalia relations

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali reported on 2 March that the withdrawal of the UN Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM II) had been carried out "in a safe and orderly manner, ahead of schedule, and virtually without a hitch".

A Combined Task Force--"United Shield"--composed of troops from France, India, Italy, Malaysia, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States--had landed in Mogadishu on 28 February to ensure a safe withdrawal.

"United Shield" troops departed Mogadishu on 3 March, after securing the withdrawal of the last of the UNOSOM II military rearguard and civilian and logistical personnel. No casualties were sustained in the operation. Force headquarters closed down operations in Nairobi, Kenya, on 8 March.

"In view of the volatile situation prevailing in Siomalia", Mr. Boutros-Ghali said, "the withdrawal was a complex exercise that required a concerted planning effort and was implemented in a skillful and coordinated manner." The phase-out, which began in November, involved the departure of 15,000 troops then deployed.

All UNOSOM soldiers and international staff had "left Somalia soil safely", he reported, as had the Combined Task Force troops.

The withdrawal was called for by the Security Council on 4 November 1994 in its resolution 954 (1994). Its completion, the Secretary-General said, "marks the end of a major phase of the efforts of the international community to facilitate the search for peace and reconciliation and to bring humanitarian assistance".

"The United Nations will not abandon Somalia", the Secretary-General declared on the day of the final withdrawal. However, he went on, the feasibility of international aid, both in the political and humanitarian areas, would depend on the cooperation by the Somali leaders with the UN and the humanitarian agencies, the resources made available for them, and the degree of security prevailing in the country.

"I hope that the Somali people will find the courage and wisdom to achieve political reconciliation and to bring peace to their country", the Secretary-General concluded.

A new political mission

In a 6 April presidential statement, the Security Council supported the Secretary-General's view that Somalia should not be abandoned by the UN. and welcomed his intention to continue a small political mission to assist the Somali parties in "coming together in national reconciliation':

The Council asserted that the UN would continue to help the Somali people to achieve a political settlement and give humanitarian and other support services, 'provided that the Somalis themselves demonstrate a disposition to peaceful resolution of the conflict and to cooperation with the international community':

The lack of sufficient cooperation from the Somali parties over security issues had "undermined" UN objectives and prevented the continuation of UNOSOM's mandate beyond 31 March, it said.

Council members, in paying tribute to those personnel who had sacrificed their lives, emphasized that the "timely intervention of UNOSOM II and the humanitarian assistance given to Somalia helped to save many lives and much property, mitigated...