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| Last Updated: Jul 22, 2008 - 11:24:29 AM |
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UN says Somali peace talks delayed by 'one or two days
10 May 10, 2008 - 6:28:33 PM
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DJIBOUTI (AFP) -Talks between Somali
government officials and exiled Islamist leaders that were due to kick
off Saturday have been delayed, a United Nations spokeswoman said.
The
talks -- bringing together seven Somalia officials and seven opposition
figures in Djibouti -- now are expected to begin "in one or two days,"
said Susannah Price, an information officer at the UN office for
Somalia.
She said the UN's special envoy for Somalia, Ahmed
Ould Abdallah, was "talking to the parties (separately) and that some
(delegates) arrived late in Djibouti".
"I'm more than hopeful
that the Somalis here in Djibouti are committed to peace and
reconciliation for the sake of Somalia," said Ould Abdallah ahead of
the closed-door talks, which are expected to last up to a week.
The
Islamic Courts Union, a militia which ousted US-backed warlords from
Mogadishu in 2006, briefly ruled large parts of the country before
being defeated by Ethiopian forces last year.
Since then, they
have carried out near-daily attacks in Mogadishu against
Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces as well as African Union
peacekeepers.
Hardliners from Somalia's dominant Hawiye clan
and the Islamist opposition refused to take part in previous
reconciliation attempts, arguing that talks should be held outside of
Somalia and only after an Ethiopian withdrawal.
But the leader
of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia -- an opposition
umbrella group based in Eritrea and dominated by Islamists -- told AFP
last month that his movement was willing to give the talks a chance.
Source: AFP
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