RRA clout secures Mirifle seats

Two lists had been submitted to the arbitration committee: one, from Shatigudud, demanding favour for the Mirifle sub-clan, which is the militia base of the RRA; the second list, from conference co-chairman and RRA deputy Dr Abdallah Derow, was a list which favoured the intelligentsia and the Digil sub-clan. The decision to take Shatigadud's list was "an important compromise for the sake of realism", an observer at the conference told IRIN. The RRA leader was "a major figure who controls territory and holds power; having him against the conference would be a disaster", the observer added.

But the acceptance of Shatigadud's list also contradicted the philosophy of the conference, which was that there should be "no special status for warlords", the source added. It is left to the four main clans (Dir, Digil-Mirifle, Darod and Hawiye) to decide on how they apportion their designated 44 seats on the transitional assembly. The Alliance (of minorities) have handed in the list for their 24 seats, as have the Dir. The women's group is still debating the division of their 25 seats, with some insisting on clan-based apportionment and others that they be allocated on an individual basis.