Faction leader joins Djibouti talks

Colonel Omar Jess, an Ogadeni faction leader in southern Somalia, has joined the Somali Peace Conference in Arta, Djibouti, a regional journalist told IRIN on Monday. Jess was loudly applauded last Thursday, when he addressed the conference, saying he wanted to make clear his intention to participate fully in the Djibouti process with the "full knowledge and consent" of his allies. He said although he had initially refused to attend the conference, he no longer had reservations and said that he hoped other faction leaders would come to Djibouti. The US-based "Bay Centre for Conflict Prevention", a diaspora group, said in a statement that it was "shocking" that Jess was welcomed to the conference as he was "actively involved in committing grave war crimes and human rights abuses". It said Jess had ordered the killing of 114 innocent civilians by his army in the first week of November 1992 in Kismayo, southern Somalia, which had been witnessed and condemned by Somalis and internationals. The Bay Centre for Conflict Prevention said it "strongly condemns the decision of the Djibouti government to assist and get the support of the warlords and war criminals for the Djibouti-sponsored peace conference" and that investigations should be launched against Somali war criminals so that they could be brought to justice. The Somaliland administration has also condemned the participation of war criminals in the Djibouti conference, and has rejected the conference on the basis that self-declared Somaliland has established a peaceful and successful government.