19 May 2007 04:20 SOMALIA WATCH |
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Thursday, March 22 4:40 PM SGT Somali warlords form common front against interim government
ADDIS ABABA, March 22 (AFP) -
Warlords and other Somalis opposed to the new transitional government (STG) in Mogadishu said here Thursday that they had formed a common front to prepare a national reconciliation conference aimed at creating a "legitimate" administration. Headed by warlord Hussein Mohamed Aidid, the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) will "lead the nation towards an all-inclusive reconciliation conference and the establishment of a legitimate transitional representative government of national unity," a statement released by the new body said. Installed late last year after a decade of anarchy in Somalia, the STG enjoys the backing of the international community but, in the absence of support from most warlords, has failed to exert its control far beyond the capital Mogadishu. The announcement follows two weeks of talks in southern Ethiopia. Other leaders of the SRRC include Rahanwein Resistance Army chief Hassan Hassan Mohamed Nur, known as Shatigudud; General Aden Abdulahi "Gabyow", commander of the Somali Patriotic Movement, an Ogaden group active in Juba; Hilowle Iman Omar, who is close to Mogadishu warlord Musa Sudi Yalahow; and Abdullahi Cheikh Ismail, leader of the Southern Somali National Movement. Mowlid Maan Mahmoud, a leader of Somalia's Bantu community, is the group's first secretary. Yousouf Omar al Azhari, an advisor to the president of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, Abdullahi Youssouf, is secretary of foreign affairs and of the executive. The new council has a score of other secretaries. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thursday, 22 March, 2001, 11:36
GMT
Somali warlords form unity council
The faction leaders say they are committed to peace
Somali warlords and other groups opposed to the country's
transitional government have joined together to form a unity
council.
They are calling for a national reconciliation conference in order to form what they describe as a "legitimate" government.
This new group argues that that process was flawed as not all Somalis were represented. The announcement came at a press conference in Addis Ababa where the Somali leaders have been meeting to try and hammer out their differences.
Somali President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan was invited to join the reconciliation conference, but as a leader of one of many factions. Hussein Aidid denied that he, along with the other faction leaders, were responsible for the continuation of conflict within the country. 'Peace makers' He said: "We blocked any avenue that can cause a war." He added that they want to achieve peace and reconciliation through dialogue.
Faction leaders have held talks in the past, but Hussein Aidid claimed that this was the "first time in history" that all the groups had come together for the purpose of reconciliation. Since its establishment the Mogadishu government has had difficulty asserting its authority outside the Somali capital. Somaliland and Puntland, two regions in the north of the country, are effectively independent.
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