11/12/08 (B477) Le retour après deux ans d’absence de Sheik Sharif, Président de l’ARS, à Mogadiscio suscite des commentaires contradictoires. (3 dépêches en Anglais et en Français)

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Le représentant de l’ONU salue le retour du leader de l’opposition somalienne

L’émissaire spécial des Nations Unies pour la Somalie a salué mercredi le retour du président de l’Alliance pour une nouvelle libération de la Somalie (ARS), Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, à la capitale de Mogadiscio après une absence de près de deux ans.

Le représentant spécial pour la Somalie Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah a indiqué dans une déclaration publiée à Nairobi que le retour du principal dirigeant politique islamique à Mogadiscio va promouvoir la paix et la réconciliation dans la nation de la Corne de l’Afrique ravagée par la guerre.

"Ce retour de M. Sheik Sharif à Mogadiscio constitue un développement le plus apprécié", a estimé M. Ould-Abdallah.

En cette periode d’Eid al-Adha, M. Ould-Abdallah a invité tous les Somaliens, de toutes les affiliations et organisations politiques, à s’entendre finalement sur la promotion de la réconciliation, de la sécurité, de l’unité et de la dignité.

"J’encourage tous les dirigeants somaliens, en cette période sainte, à mettre de côté leurs différences et à permettre au processus de paix de se poursuivre", a-t-il affirmé.

M. Sharif, 44 ans, a signé un accord le mois dernier à Djibouti pour un retrait des troupes éthiopiennes et un cessez-le-feu.

Le mouvement du Shabaab, qui a rejeté l’accord de Djibouti, a attaqué avec acharnement les troupes éthiopiennes et s’est emparé récemment d’importants territoires dans le sud et le centre de la Somalie.

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Le numéro 1 des islamistes de retour à Mogadiscio. // Top Islamist returns to Somalia

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed backs a UN-brokered reconciliation process
One of Somalia’s main Islamist leaders has returned to the Somali capital two years after being driven from power.

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) was ousted by the Ethiopian-backed interim government.

His arrival follows a deal, between the government and the opposition movement he now leads, which should see Ethiopia withdraw its forces later this month.

The Islamist al-Shabab insurgent group that controls much of southern Somalia has not signed up to the peace deal.

Correspondents say Mr Ahmed was regarded as the more moderate of the leaders in the UIC, the group which ruled most of the country for the second half of 2006.

Islamist rival Sheikh Hassan Aweys has accused Mr Ahmed of siding with the enemy.

Somalia has been without a central government for nearly two decades and half of the population is dependent on food aid.

‘Good step forward’

Mr Ahmed was welcomed at Mogadishu’s main airport by members of the current government.

UN peace envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, told the BBC it was "a good step forward" in the peace process.

In late 2006, the UIC, which Mr Ahmed headed along with Mr Aweys, was overthrown by troops from neighbouring Ethiopia – who still protect the beleaguered government they then installed.

The Ethiopian move was supported by the United States, which said the Somali Islamists had links with al-Qaeda.

BBC world affairs correspondent Mark Doyle says over the past two years Mogadishu has been the scene of violence on a scale that is unprecedented even for Somalia.

Islamist and nationalist forces have battled the Somali government and their Ethiopian allies on an almost daily basis, causing at least half a million people to flee the city into the surrounding semi-desert.

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Sheik Sharif retourne à Mogadiscio après deux ans d’absence. Sheik Sharif arrives in Mogadishu for the first time in 2 years

The chairman of the Alliance for the Re-liberating of Somalia, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed has arrived in Mogadishu on Wednesday officials said.

"We are happy that we are in the capital and we thank those who welcomed us," Sheik Sharif told Shabelle Media Network.

Sheik Sharif from Djibouti has returned to Mogadishu since the Islamic Courts Union was driven from the capital Mogadishu by Ethiopian troops backing the transitional federal government of Somalia.

He was accompanied by members of his alliance which signed a peace deal with the transitional government and some government ministers.

The security of Aden Adde international airport in Mogadishu was tightened ahead of the arrival of the chairman, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.

Government soldiers and Islmic Courts Union forces wearing red turbans participated his security and he was welcomed by a lot of people who were at the pavements of the long road from the airport to Lafwein Hotel.

AMISOM peace keepers in Mogadishu escorted his convoy to Lafwein Hotel in north Mogadishu, where he met some traditional leaders.

Sheik Sharif and other top officials of the Islamic Courts Unioin left Mogadishu in late 2006 when allied Ethiopian troops and government soldiers routed the militants of Islamic Courts Union.