|
As the
Somali peace talks opened in Arta, Djibouti, on Tuesday, Foreign
Minister Ali Abdi Farah told Radio France Internationale (RFI)
that the conference would last for a week and include 250
"important representatives" of Somali society.
Djibouti
officials organising the conference have told international
news agencies that up to 1,000 businessmen, clan elders, professional
and civic leaders from across Somalia are expected to attend.
The conference
was delayed for 12 days when Djibouti delegates failed to
persuade all faction leaders to attend.
The conference
has shifted its focus to "civil society" but Siad Dualeh from
the organising team told Reuters "warlords willing to participate
...are welcome, but they will not be given a leading role".
Ali Mahdi
Mohamed, one of the main leaders from north Mogadishu, is
attending, but Hussein Aideed from southern Mogadishu, has
refused.
The breakaway
state of Somaliland has also rejected the initiative, saying
it has no role in Somalia's problems. Somaliland's parliament
declared it was "treasonable" to attend the Djibouti conference,
reported Radio Hargeisa.
Leaders
from the self-declared state of Puntland, in the northeast,
issued a statement saying there would be no participation
unless the Djibouti conference recognised the existence of
Puntland.
The Rahanweyn
Resistance Army (RRA), which controls Bay and Bakool regions
in southern Somalia, has announced it will attend the conference,
after initially refusing.
In Djibouti,
the foreign ministry said the formal opening had been delayed
to give the government and army time to set up facilities
in Arta, 35 km west of Djibouti.
However
controversy over the peace talks has increased tension in
Somalia. In Mogadishu, Abgal clan leaders supporting the Djibouti
conference have clashed with clan leaders in south Mogadishu
opposing it.
An upsurge
in fighting in Mogadishu left eight people dead, the local
FM radio Horn-Afrique reported.
AP quoted
a doctor at the ICRC-run Kaysane Hospital as saying 22 patients
had been treated for gunshot or shrapnel wounds.
Regional
analysts have expressed concern that partial attendance by
faction leaders could increase hostilities, and that representatives
from civil society have proved in previous Somalia conferences
to have insufficient influence in the war-torn country.
|
