Somalia peace talks go hungry

2004-05-07 14:01

Nairobi, Kenya - Delegates at a summit to end 13 years of lawlessness in Somalia have not been fed for five days because the organisers of the talks have not paid their bills, officials said Friday.

The lack of funds came up when a group of African foreign ministers discussed what needs to be done to move the stalled Somalia peace process forward, said Augustine Nshimye, Uganda's minister of state for foreign affairs.

"We have appealed to the international community (to contribute more money) and we're trying to find solutions," Nshimye said.

The talks, which have included hundreds of Somalis, have so far been funded by international donors, but the money ran out on May 1.

"We have not had food for the last five days. As Somalis we don't talk about food, we are concerned about the casual labourers of the Kenya College of Communications Technology (where the talks are being held) who have been laid off," said Awad Ahmed Asharah, a delegate at the talks.

The latest attempt to bring peace to Somalia began in October 2002.

Bethuel Kiplagat, the chief mediator, said that the peace negotiations had a budget deficit of about $10m (about R69m).

In a statement, the ministers said they "observed with concern that the financial situation of the conference had not made any significant improvement since their last meeting. The conference was operating on a 52% budget deficit as the pending bills continue to escalate."

Since January when Somali leaders agreed to a charter for a new parliament and government, the Somalia National Reconciliation Conference, which is organised by a regional group of seven countries called the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, has stalled with some key participants returning to Somalia.

The ministers said they will hold a meeting on May 20 with Somali leaders to re-energise the conference which they say should end by July 31.

- AP