Faction leader "disappointed" by talks

Prominent Mogadishu-based faction leader Usman Hasan Ali Ato has expressed disappointment over the conduct of the Somali peace talks currently underway in Nairobi. "The process is being corrupted by the involvement and influence of some countries," said Ato, who is currently in Mogadishu. "It seems that certain Somali groups, supported by a foreign power, are being favoured to the detriment of others, and this will not lead to a successful outcome," he told IRIN on Tuesday. Ato denied local media reports that he had walked out of the talks. "I did not walk out of the talks," he said. "I am here [Mogadishu] to consult with my people. I don't want to walk out." He said everyone wanted a successful outcome to the talks. "However, the way the conference is being conducted, if not quickly changed, will lead to its failure," he warned. "The mediators need to return the conference to the Somalis and refrain from siding with any group, otherwise there will be no point in any of us returning." Ato said he would meet leaders who had left the talks, but stressed this was not an alternative to the Kenya conference. It would be a consultative meeting "to discuss ways of bringing our views closer together" and finding a solution to the insecurity in the Somali capital. Among those absent from the talks are the president of the Transitional National Government, Abdiqassim Salad Hassan; another prominent Mogadishu-based faction leader, Muse Sudi Yalahow; and the leader of the Kismayo-based Juba Valley Alliance, Col Barre Adan Hirale. The talks - which began last October - are being steered by the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development's technical committee, whose members comprise Somalia's neighbours -Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti.