Dee&& Politia and War in Somalia 353women, youth or militants, should be excluded from negotiations to end con-
flict and promote peace.
But more than any other factor, any peace-building framework for Somalia
must address the core sources of conflict, as welt as those factors that prolong
conflict - including the issue of land..
Customary methods deserve intensive analytical and policy consideration.
These were overlooked in many past conflict prevention and management
strategies for Somalia. Arguably, the failure of past conflict management and
peace-building initiatives is the result of a large-scale policy emphasis on
international intervention and externally imposed peace formulas. At best
these failed. At worst, they were destructive to customary forms of negotia-
tion, agreement and reconciliation.
From past experience, it is evident that Somalis themselves must guide the
process of peace building and national reconciliation, drawing on both cus-
tomary and modern methods. Traditional methods of conflict prevention and
management including xeer and diya could serve as a solid foundation to for-
mulate new hybrid strategies that build on the comparative strengths of cus-
tomary and modern approaches.
Endnotes
J Unruh. Post conflict recovery of African agriculture: The role of 'critical
resource' tenure, Journal of the Human Environment, 1995.
Ibid.
A Guido, The Somali clan system: An intmduction to Somali society and history,
UNHCR Publication, Jigjiga, 1994.
Ibid.
See L Cassanelli, The Shaping of Somali Society, University of Philadelphia Press,
Philadelphia, 1982 and R Marchal. A few provocative remarks on governance in
Somali, UNDOS Discussion Paper, UNDOS, Nairobi, 1997.
I M Lewis, A modem history of Somalia: h'ation and state in the Horn of Africa,
Westview, Boulder, 1988.
United Nation Development Program [UNDP). UNDP Human Developmenr
Report, Somalia, 1998.
Ibid.
Interview with Qassim Bursaliid, June 2001.
10 UNDP, op cit.
11 Ibid.
12 Lewis,op cit.
13 A de Waal, Famine crimes: Politics and the disaster relief industry, Indiana
University Press with Africa Rights and the International African Institute, Oxford
and Bloomington, 1997.