The topic of IGAD peacekeepers for Somalia is a controversial one here in Mogadishu. Many Somalis see this initiative as an attempt by Ethiopians to dominate in the Horn of Africa and form a renegade regime in Mogadishu. Recently Somalia’s government approved the deployment of at least 7500 troops to help restore law and order in a country shattered by years of civil war.

This plan was voted on at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed in the Kenyan capital early this month, but it will have to be taken to the country’s parliament for final approval. The mission, which will be the first multinational force in Somalia since the end of a failed UN-mandated intervention in 1993, is expected to help install the country’s transitional government.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) has earlier early warned of the deployment of troops from frontline states, adding that the decision taken by regional organisations to send troops to Somalia risks destabilising Somalia's fragile transitional government and jeopardising the peace process.

President Yusuf, elected last October, and his government led by Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi, have been based in Nairobi amid continued fears of instability in Somalia. However, early this month a delegation of parliamentarians and ministers of the Transitional Federal Government led by parliament speaker Shariif Hassan have visited Mogadishu to assess the security situation in the city.

On their return to Nairobi, Mr. Shariif told a parliament meeting that Mogadishu is where the government should settle. The decision will also depend upon a combination of political strategy and security calculations linked to the appointment of the cabinet and the possible deployment of African peace-keeping forces.

Mr. Yusuf and other officials have repeatedly said that they will one day return to Mogadishu since a number of foreign governments have flagged this as a key measure of the TFG. To disarm armed groups in Somalia will also be a hard task for the TFG to ensure, as leaders of all armed factions appear to be opposed to the recent call of Mr. Yusuf on disarmament.

The peace conference held in Kenya for Somalis has finally established a new government for the war-torn country. Somalia has been without central authority for nearly 14 years. Somalis at home and abroad are apparently tired of a ruthless 14 years of civil war, and have demonstrated their support for the new government.

Peaceful and impartial steps to campaign for national reconciliation in the entire country through broader participation from all areas of the Somali people must be a top priority of the government. It is required to do this by developing a reconciliation process to foster public support as the way forward.