ABSTRACT
The Security Council expressed its "willingness to engage with all parties in Somalia who are committed to achieving a political settlement through peaceful and inclusive dialogue, including the Union of Islamic Courts." The resolution, while it welcomed the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia, did not include a provision that restricts the participation of Somalia's immediate neighbors in the peacekeeping operation as Resolution 1725 did. On February 20, 2007, the United Nation Security Council passed Resolution 1744, reiterating its support for the Transitional Federal Institutions and authorizing the African Union to establish a mission in Somalia. Humanitarian and security conditions continued to deteriorate in Mogadishu and south-central Somalia. United States, Transitional Federal Government, and Ethiopian officials labeled the entire leadership of the Islamic Courts Union as extremists and terrorists. The government of Ethiopia realizes that durable peace is still the call of the people of Somalia which is yet to be answered.
