NAIROBI, 16 Nov 2005 (IRIN) -
Somali parliamentarians based in Mogadishu have resolved to hold talks with the
rest of the government, which operates from Jowhar, in a bid to bridge
differences that have paralysed the new administration.
Omar Hashi, speaking on behalf of the Mogadishu-based leaders, said they reached
the decision on Tuesday at a meeting of more than 100 MPs chaired by Sharif
Hassan Shaykh Aden, the speaker of the Somali transitional parliament.
"It was a unanimous decision to engage our colleagues in Jowhar and hold a
face-to-face meeting without preconditions," he said.
Hashi added that the meeting would be held in Somalia - a demand the Jowhar-based
group, headed by President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Ali Muhammad
Gedi, had insisted on.
The Mogadishu group dropped their demand that the meeting be held outside
Somalia under international mediation. "We only ask that [the international
community] to be present as observers to witness any agreement," said Hashi.
The Jowhar-based Transitional Federal Government (TFG) welcomed the new
development as a "step in the right direction".
"We have been calling for direct talks without preconditions for a long time.
Now that our brothers in Mogadishu agree, we welcome it with open arms," said
Muhammad Abdi Hayir, the TFG's information minister.
The transitional federal institutions moved to Somalia in 2004 from Kenya, where
they were created, but the administration has been divided over where the seat
of government should be situated.
The president, the prime minister and their supporters pitched camp in Jowhar,
90 km north of the capital, Mogadishu. The two leaders cited insecurity as the
reason behind their decision not to work from Mogadishu.
Other MPs led by the speaker, went to Mogadishu, saying they would attempt to
restore stability to the city, largely destroyed during nearly 15 years of
factional warfare following the toppling in 1991 of the Muhammad Siyad Barre
regime.
The proposed deployment of peacekeepers, particularly from Somalia's neighbours,
also divided the interim government.
There have been several attempts by the international community, including the
UN, to broker an agreement between the two groups. In August, François Lonsény
Fall, special envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, presented an
"agenda for dialogue" to the interim leaders.
On Wednesday, Fall said that his office welcomed the new plan: "Any initiative
that fosters dialogue within the federal transitional institutions in Somalia
is, of course, welcome. My office is ready to assist in any way we can."
[ENDS]
Source: IRIN, Nov. 16, 2005