Somalia ready for peace talks
2006-07-18 08:37
Mogadishu - Somalia's president on Monday dropped his opposition to peace talks with Islamists now in control of the capital, said a senior aide, amid fears that new violence could engulf the lawless state.
The official said President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed reversed his earlier refusal to allow the government to participate in the Arab League-sponsored talks in Sudan and asked Khartoum to set a new date for the meeting.
The official said: "He has accepted the participation of the Somali transitional government in the peace talks sponsored by the Arab League and hosted by Sudan.
"He contacted the Sudanese government and affirmed the participation of the Somali government", adding that Yusuf had suggested Friday as a possible starting date.
Govt boycott talks
A foreign ministry official said Khartoum planned to announce the date on Tuesday for the launch of the talks, which had been due to open on Saturday, but were boycotted by the government.
According to reports, the Somali government delegation was expected in the Sudanese capital "in the next couple of days".
On Friday, Yusuf had told parliament that the government would not attend the talks, which were aimed at resolving differences that threatened to plunge Somalia into further conflict as the Islamists moved to consolidate power.
He accused the Islamists of breaking an earlier peace and mutual recognition agreement, brokered in June after Muslim militia routed a United States-backed warlord alliance after months of bloody battle for Mogadishu.
Islamists deny the charges
Yusuf also suggested that hardline Islamist leaders were planning to threaten the largely powerless, but internationally backed government at its base in Baidoa, where it had set up shop due to insecurity in the capital.
The Islamists had denied the charges, but had moved rapidly to consolidate and expand their power since seizing control of Mogadishu from the warlords on June 05.
The Arab League initiative was part of international efforts to restore peace and stability to Somalia - which had been without a functioning central authority since 1991 - and end competition between different factions to fill the power vacuum.
On June 22, the transitional government and the Islamists signed a preliminary accord after the latter routed a US-backed alliance of warlords from Mogadishu, after fierce battles that alarmed many.
At the time, the two sides agreed to meet again on July 15 to thrash out security and governance arrangements, but since then the Islamists had further expanded their territory, drawing charges that they reneged on the deal.