Media Talk: Stability for Somalia?

 

With no government to speak of since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, Somalia has been ruled by warlords who led the country into chaos.

Kenya persuaded the warlords to sign a peace agreement in 2004, a new parliament was set up and a president appointed.

But its authority was undermined by the rise of an Islamist movement in 2006, which gained control of the south and the capital.

At the end of last year Islamist rule was overthrown in a concerted push spearheaded by Ethiopia and the US.

Our panel discusses the implications of the Ethiopian and US involvement in Somalia, the alleged Al Qaeda connection and the future facing this war-torn region.

Abdul Rahman is a former chairman of the Somalia Concern Group

Michela Wrong is a columnist for the New Statesman and author of I Didn’t Do It For You: How the World Used and Abused a Small African Nation.

Azeb Wolde-Giorghis – CBC Correspondent, specialising in Africa.