MOGADISHU, Somalia May 15 (Garowe Online) - Representatives of the secessionist government in Somaliland have contacted officials in Mogadishu asking to participate at the upcoming national reconciliation conference, a Somali Cabinet minister announced on Tuesday.

Mohamed Abdi Mareye, Somalia’s reconciliation minister, said the unnamed Somaliland officials directly contacted his ministry and made the request.

The Somali transitional government plans to host a national reconciliation “conference of clans” in mid-June in the capital, Mogadishu.

Minister Mareye said the national reconciliation conference will be independently run by a committee chaired by former Somali President Ali Mahdi Mohamed.

“All the Somali clans are invited to attend [the conference],” Mareye said.

Somaliland, the northwestern regions in Somalia, declared itself an independent country in 1991 after warlords violently expelled former military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre before turning Mogadishu into a war zone.

Despite holding successful democratic elections, no country in the world has recognized an independent Somaliland.

The UN-recognized Somali transitional government, backed militarily by Ethiopia, overpowered Islamist rivals in January. But the government continues to face an Islamist-led insurgency renowned for guerrilla-style attacks and assassinations, especially in Mogadishu.

The Somaliland administration, which has close ties to the Ethiopian government, has not responded to Minister Mareye’s comments.

Garowe Online News