SOMALI CLAN LEADER REPORTEDLY FLEES DJIBOUTI CONFERENCE
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom ; 16-Jun-2000 12:00:00 am 

Imam Muhammad Uthman Meyleh, leader of the Banadiri community living in southern Somalia, arrived in Saylac [in Somaliland] on Wednesday [14th June] after secretly leaving the ongoing Djibouti peace conference. Imam Muhammad said he left the conference after the Djibouti government detained Abd al-Qadir Haji Sufi, the political leader of the Banaadiri, and his deputy Murundi Abokar. He said the two men were detained after refusing to accept the small number of seats offered to them at the conference.

The Banadiri cultural leader said he was in Djibouti city when his two colleagues were detained. He fled to Somaliland after receiving reports that he was being sought by the Djibouti police who wanted to detain him too.