Somali peace talks delayed
2006-10-30 15:34
Khartoum - Peace talks aimed at averting all-out war between Somalia's powerful Islamists and weak government failed to start as scheduled here on Monday, amid an apparent rift in the governmental delegation.
Officials said that a planned third round of negotiations, to be mediated by the Arab League and Kenya, had been due to begin at 11:00, but the government's delegation had not yet arrived in Khartoum by that time.
One Arab League official said: "The conference will be delayed because of internal disputes among the transitional federal government", adding that the delegation was expected later in the Sudanese capital.
The official said: "After they arrive, the conference will start in the afternoon."
Kenya 'bias toward the govt'
Other officials in Khartoum said the government delegation was delayed in leaving the administration's seat in the Somali town of Baidoa due to differences between the two men appointed to lead it.
Government officials in Baidoa could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Islamists had also rejected the mediation of Kenya, accusing the country, which chaired a regional east African bloc planning to send peacekeepers to Somalia, of bias toward the government.
The Islamists had declared holy war against Ethiopian soldiers said to be in Somalia and had accused Kenya of bias as it supported the government's call for peacekeepers, also backed by Ethiopia.
Ethiopia 'has 8 000 soldiers in Somalia'
Mainly Christian Ethiopia denied reports it had as many as 8 000 soldiers in Somalia, but acknowledged sending military advisers to help protect the government from "jihadists" some of whom were accused of links with al-Qaeda.
Soaring tensions between the government and the Islamists, who seized Mogadishu in June and now controlled almost all of southern and central Somalia, had raised fears of a full-scale war in the chaotic country.
They had also led to concerns that the situation might explode into a regional conflict engulfing the Horn of Africa, particularly as Ethiopia and arch-foe Eritrea were feared to be using Somalia as a proxy battleground.
Somalia had been without a functioning central administration since 1991 and the government, created two years ago, had been wracked by infighting and its inability to assert control over much of the country.