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Somali
warlord Ali Mahdi Mohamed said Saturday he supported Djibouti's
President Ismail Omar Guelleh's peace initiatives for Somalia,
but considered next week's reconciliation conference unrealistic.
"I support
the call for peace in Somalia by Guelleh, but the emphasis
on the ideals of personalities that are not in touch with
the realities of Somalia would hamper the whole peace process,"
Ali Mahi told AFP.
He said
that the plan to hold the conference in Djibouti on April
20 to elect a parliament was a "premature move that requires
political wisdom."
Under
Guelleh's peace plan, the proposed parliament would elect
a president to run the country for an interim two-year period
before elections were held.
Ali Mahdi
urged warring factions in Somalia that rejected the Djibouti
call for the reconciliation conference to air their grievances
in a constructive way to the Djibouti government and then
join the peace effort.
His comments
came as a delegation from Djibouti, led by presidential advisor
Osman Ahmed Yousuf, was in the Somali capital for talks with
clan leaders on the peace proposals.
Ali Mahdi
said he had urged faction leader Hussein Mohamed Aidid to
endorse the Djibouti plan which is aimed at paving the way
for a central government in the country.
Aidid
is opposed to the plan, despite it having considerable support
inside Somalia and from the outside world, on the grounds
that it interferes with the country's internal affairs.
Somalia
plunged into anarchy and has been without a central authority
since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.
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