SOMALIS TO ATTEND PEACE TALKS !

Mogadishu, (AFP) 24th June 2002

Somali's Transitional National Government (TNG) will attend reconciliation talks as the legitimate Administration and treat other parties as "opposition elements" , a senior official said here yesterday .

" The Transitional National Assembly (TNA) and its TNG affiliate led by Abdulkassim is the legitimate Government of Somalia and will represent the Somali People ", TNA speaker Abdalla Deerow Issak told AFP, ahead of the talks in neighbouring Kenya .

" We can't start negotiation from zero . We are elected leaders of the nation . We are not warlords that seized power by force " Issak said .

ARAB LEAGUE CHIEF HEADS TO HORN OF AFRICA !

Cairo (AFP) 24th June 2002

Arab League Chief Amr Moussa left Cairo yesterday for Djibouti, his first stop on a tour of the states on the horn of Africa that will also take him to Ethiopia and Sudan,Arab League official said.

Moussa said prior to his departure he was going to hold talks with the Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Gelleh on the " situation of the Horn of Africa and Somalia ".

In Ethiopia, he will discuss with officials Arab-Ethiopian relations and peace efforts for Somalia, diplomatic sources said .

He will try to convince Ethiopia to set aside its reservations concerning the Interim Government and encourage the Somali opposition in Ethiopia to participate in the peace process in their country .

Ethiopia has been accused by Somali's Transitional National Government in Mogadsihu of arming the opposition factions to undermine it.

Djibouti and Ethiopia, along with Kenya , sit on a committee aimed at tackling Somali's problems .