28 deaths mar Somali talks

2003-07-09 17:24

Mogadishu - At least 28 people have been killed and 65 others wounded by fighting in a central Somalia village in the past two days, local officials said on Wednesday.

Elders and officials said fighting had taken place "on Tuesday and early Wednesday in the village of Afbarwaqo in Mudug region of central Somalia between Sa'ad sub-clans and those of Saleban-Abdalla".

"About 28 people, including civilians, were killed and more than 65 wounded in the battle, where machine guns, battle wagons and rocket-propelled grenades were used by both sides" said an elder.

"The fighting has subsided, but the area has remained tense since hostilities erupted on Tuesday, with civilians still fleeing to safer areas," said local official Ali Ahmed Alore.

Elders said the fighting was related to a land dispute in the area, where salt is produced for commercial purposes.

Fighting after peace talks

Civilians are often victims in inter-clan fighting in Somalia, a country in the Horn of Africa which has had no centralised government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in January 1991.

The fighting came days after Somali leaders attending a peace conference in neighbouring Kenyan capital, Nairobi, agreed to establish a federal government which would rule the Horn of Africa country for the next four years.

The more than 300 delegates also agreed at the conference on Saturday that parliament would appoint the new federal president, who would appoint a prime minister.

The prime minister would be assisted by three deputy prime ministers.

'Undermines the unity of Somalia'

But, the following day the president of Somalia's Transitional National Government, which has only limited control of the strife-torn country, rejected the accord, saying it was unacceptable.

"The accord signed by the Somali factions is unacceptable to the TNG, because it undermines the unity of Somalia," said President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan in Nairobi.

The delegates at the Nairobi peace conference represented the TNG, armed Somali factions under the Somali Restoration and Reconciliation Council (SRRC), armed and political groups known as the "G8", and the clan-based civil society.

Talks on the war-devastated nation started in the Kenyan western Rift Valley town of Eldoret on October 15, but were moved to Nairobi's suburb of Mbagathi early this year.

The latest talks are the 16th attempt by the international community to restore peace to Somalia.

- AFX