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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Robert Patterson, U.S. Counselor for Somali Affairs, about Washington’s support for Somalia’s fragile transitional government.
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MARCO WERMAN: There was no break from the past last week when Secretary of State Clinton met Somali’s president in Kenya. Clinton praised President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s transitional government in its fight against Al Shabaab. That’s a Somali militant group with suspected ties to Al Qaeda. Robert Patterson is a US Counselor for Somali Affairs based in Kenya. He says American support for Somalia’s fragile government remains strong.
ROBERT PATTERSON: The Secretary, in her meeting with the president, just reaffirmed our support for the transitional federal government of Somalia. Made no specific pledges but said that we had provided support in the past, and she reviewed the kind of aid that we had provided, and promised that we would remain engaged with the government of Somalia in the future.
WERMAN: What kind of support does the US government currently offer Somalia?
PATTERSON: We’ve provided arms and ammunition to the Somali government. We worked very carefully with them to try to help them stand up against Al Shabaab in Mogadishu and elsewhere in Somalia. We are trying to help solicit aid from other interested countries in the region and beyond.
WERMAN: You know, there is almost daily violence between different factions inside Somalia. Can you quantify how great the threat of terrorism is globally from what’s happening inside Somalia from that violence?
PATTERSON: Yeah. There is a lot of violence in Somalia, and as you know there has been since 1991 when the government of Sheik Fari collapsed. We are focused at this point on the violence in Somalia, attempting to help the TFG, the Transitional Federal Government, contain, oppose, and establish its writ in Somalia. In the past, there have been attacks outside of south central Somalia itself, in Puntland and in Somalia land, on October 29th last year, there were suicide bombings. So clearly there is a potential for this to become a regional problem.
WERMAN: How can propping up Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s fragile government actually help Somalia, Mr. Patterson? I mean, doesn’t any intervention into Somalia at this point need to be more profound?
PATTERSON: We believe that this transitional federal government has the greatest potential for success in Somalia. You’re right, it’s a fragile government at this point. That’s why we and others are engaged in trying to help establish its writ in Somalia. We think that Sheikh Sharif, President Sharif, brings to the transitional federal government and to Somalia a degree of legitimacy. We think that he’s been working very assiduously to reach out to others who, like him, are interested in a peaceful, reunited, stabilized Somalia. We find him to be a genuine interlocketer. We think that his government, although it’s being pressed by groups like Al Shabaab and [INDISCERNIBLE] at this point still have potential for success. There’s a long way to go. We don’t have illusions about that, and I don’t think the government of President Sharif has illusions about that, either, but progress is slowly but surely being made.
WERMAN: Mr. Patterson, doesn’t the US feel that Somalia is now or potentially could be the same kind of safe haven for a growth of terrorism as Afghanistan has been? In that case, why isn’t there the same focus on Somalia as Afghanistan, whether it’s called Taliban or Al Qaeda or Al Shabaab?
PATTERSON: Obviously, the US is worried about the potential for this, and we’ve watched this very carefully. One of the reasons we see for engaging establishing a stabile Somali government is that we believe a government in place, providing stability, peace, reconciliation, the same things for most Somalis that governments provide elsewhere – places where Somalis can raise their children, send them to school and do these kinds of things – is actually the best ultimate remedy against terrorism.
WERMAN: Finally, do you think – do you foresee a time in the next couple of years where a US Secretary of State could actually hold a meeting in Somalia?
PATTERSON: I hope so. It’s – as I said, this is a long road and it’s too early to predict that at this point. But certainly we would hope that that would take place someday. I wouldn’t want to be contradicting when that might occur, but that’s what we’re working toward. We hope that this government will be at some point in Mogadishu and able to receive visitors.
WERMAN: Robert Patterson is Counselor for Somali Affairs. He’s been speaking with us from the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. Thank you so much for your time, sir.
PATTERSON: Thank you.
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