In a joint statement yesterday, Mogadishu faction leaders Husayn Muhammad Aydid,
Eng Muhammad Husayn Adow, Muhammad Qanyareh Afrah, Uthman Hasan Ali Ato's representative
and others said they welcomed any neutral parties to help in finding a solution to the
Somali problem.
They denied that a meeting of Mogadishu faction leaders had collapsed, as alleged by Dr
Husayn Bod [city faction leader]. The faction leaders said that the meeting, aimed at
setting up an administration for the Banaadir Region [Mogadishu and environs], was
progressing smoothly and would be finished soon.
The faction leaders also said that they were not aware that their militiamen were
participating in the current fighting taking place in southern Somalia. They appealed for
public support to set up administrations for Banaadir and other southern regions.
Meanwhile, USC-SNA [United Somali Congress - Somali National Alliance] internal
secretary has said that the Djibouti government has never been neutral on the Somali
issue. He, therefore, called on the Djibouti government to stop interfering in the
internal affairs of the country.
The USC-SNA official said the Somali people would not participate in the forthcoming
conference being organized by the Djibouti government. He said it was worth recalling that
aircraft which bombed Somalis [in 1993, during United Nations Operation Somalia tenure]
flew from Djibouti.