Somali Islamists reject face-to-face talks with govt
Source: Reuters
(Updates with U.S. comment) By Marie-Louise Gumuchian KHARTOUM, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Islamists challenging the authority of Somalia's interim government said they would not proceed with a third round of peace talks on Monday unless Ethiopian troops were withdrawn from the chaotic country. Both sides met diplomats separately in the Sudanese capital after the government delegation arrived in Khartoum late in the day. The Islamists said there would be no face-to-face talks. They also objected to neighbouring Kenya co-chairing the talks with the Arab League -- talks that have so far produced only a promise to recognise each other and make no military moves -- saying Kenya backed sending foreign troops to Somalia. "Dialogue cannot continue while Ethiopia is invading Somalia and war can break out at any time right now," Ibrahim Hussein Adow, head of the 16-man Islamist delegation, told Reuters. "We are saying Ethiopian forces should be taken out of Somalia and Kenya should not be allowed to co-chair the meeting ... We came here in good faith. If these obstacles are not removed, we do not see an environment for continuing dialogue." The two sides had been due to meet early on Monday, but the government delegation arrived late in the day, led by deputy premier and former foreign minister, Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail. "We are here for the dialogue," Ismail told Reuters. Francois Lonseny-Fall, the U.N. Secretary-General's special representative to Somalia, said diplomats would separately hold talks with both sides. Other diplomats said they hoped they could encourage both parties to meet face-to-face on Tuesday. Adow accused the interim government of being "manipulated" by Ethiopia, which along with Kenya and Uganda, has backed a regional bid to send African peacekeepers into Somalia -- which the Islamists vehemently oppose. "(We) will not meet face-to-face," Adow said of the government team. "We can talk to each other. We can say hello and have informal discussions, but the peace process won't go forward unless solutions are found for these pressing matters." CEASEFIRE FIRST The head of the Arab League delegation, Samir Hosni, chided the Islamists over their position. "The Arab League accepts the presence of Kenya as a partner in the talks and as co-chairman," he told reporters. "We have asked the Islamic Courts to continue with the discussions and to present their concerns ... at the negotiating table and not outside," he added. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack urged the Islamists to reconsider their position. "It is unfortunate that they have placed those conditions on meeting with the transitional federal institutions. We continue to support those institutions. They are not very well developed and rather weak," he added. The rise of the Islamists, who control much of the south after seizing the capital Mogadishu in June, has isolated the Western-backed government and hampered its attempts to impose central rule on a country in chaos since 1991. In September negotiations, both sides agreed in principle to create joint military forces and reconvene for power-sharing talks on political and security issues. But fearing the standoff could spark a regional war sucking in Ethiopia and Eritrea, analysts say a truce should come first. According to an Associated Press report over the weekend, a confidential U.N. report said Eritrea and its arch-foe Ethiopia had deployed thousands of soldiers in Somalia. The report said the document estimated that 6,000 to 8,000 Ethiopian and 2,000 Eritrean troops were there, but diplomats and security experts say the Ethiopians number about 5,000, and few had solid information on the Eritrean presence. U.N. spokesmen were not immediately available to comment. McCormack said without giving details: "We do have concerns about some other countries, outside countries involved in Somalia; various troop activities". "(I) would hope that states not try to use Somalia as a proxy for any of their disputes," he added. Eritrea and Addis Ababa deny any incursion. The Islamists say their priority is to restore law and order, but critics say they harbour al Qaeda-linked extremists. (Additional reporting by Jack Kimball in Asmara and Bryson Hull in Nairobi, and Sue Pleming in Washington)
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
