BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom
; 28-Mar-2000 12:00:00 am
Text of report by Somali newspaper 'Xog-Ogaal' on 28th March
More than 60 Somali scholars have been invited by the Djibouti
government to discuss and advise on several issues including the participation of
delegates from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and how to form a Somali government.
Some of the scholars invited by the Djibouti government for
consultations on the reconciliation process in Somalia proposed that the delegates to the
forthcoming Somali reconciliation conference in Djibouti should be selected by the Somali
faction leaders and civil society. However, a few of them proposed that the delegates
should be selected on the basis of provinces and districts. The majority of the
participants advocated that delegates be selected on a clan basis.
The Somali scholars unanimously supported Mogadishu as the
capital city of Somalia. However, they differed in their views on the type of government
they wanted in Somalia. Some proposed a federal system, others a strong central
government, while some preferred other systems.
All the proposals will be submitted to the Somali elders
currently in Djibouti who will also be debating the matter for five days and will submit
their resolutions to the Djibouti government. The Djibouti government will reconsider the
elders' proposals.
Reports say the Djibouti government will then send fact-finding
teams to various Somali regions to establish whether the facts on the ground are
compatible with the proposals.
The fact-finding teams will then submit their findings to the
Djibouti president who will in turn submit the final proposal to the UN.
Source: 'Xog-Ogaal', Mogadishu, in Somali 28 Mar 00 p 2