[ 2011-09-04 ]

UN-sponsored reconciliation talks to open in Somalia
MOGADISHU (AFP) - Somali leaders began gathering
on Sunday for a three-day national reconciliation
conference under UN auspices amid high security in
war-shattered Mogadishu.

African Union peacekeepers were deployed around
the parliament talks venue in the capital only
recently vacated by Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents
seeking to overthrow the fragile UN-backed
Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

A key focus will be on winding up the
seven-year-old transitional administration, which
has failed to deliver on its top objective of
reconciling the country, writing a new
constitution and holding elections.

Sunday's talks were also to include
representatives of the breakaway Puntland region
and other semi-autonomous territories.

"Most of the delegates have reached Mogadishu
including those from the regional administrations
like Puntland, Galmudug and Ahlusuna-Waljameca,
but there are some technical delays this morning
as some officials are still awaited to reach the
conference hall," lawmaker Mohamed Abdi told AFP.

"There are ministers and lawmakers in the
transitional government that are attending the
conference who have already reached the hall, I
think the conference will officially kick off
sometime in the afternoon," he said.

However, neither Somaliland, which broke away in
1991, nor the Shebab insurgents, which retreated
from Mogadishu last month but remain in control of
most of the south and centre of the country, are
being represented at the talks.

Somalia has been in a state of almost constant
civil war since the overthrow of president Mohamed
Siad Barre 20 years ago, despite several
internationally-backed attempts to install a
central authoritity.

The TFG itself has had two presidents and five
prime ministers since its inauguration in 2004.

The conflict in Somalia has worsened the
humanitarian consequences of drought across the
Horn of Africa, which the United Nations says is
the worst in decades.

The UN has declared a famine in several regions of
the country and says half of the 10 million
population needs food aid.

Source - AFP

... go Back