Interim president in Nairobi for reconciliation talks

The interim president of Somalia and faction leaders opposed to his administration arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday to attend peace talks convened by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi and designed to breach the ongoing political impasse in Somalia.

The talks, due to open on Thursday, come just days after Somali MPs passed a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galayr, which led to his removal from office and the dismissal of his government. A regional analyst told IRIN that following the vote, President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan is hoping to use the talks as a forum to persuade faction leaders to join his government.

It is, however, unclear as to how many of the faction leaders will be attending, but as of Wednesday afternoon at least two of them had arrived in Nairobi. Usman Hasan Ali Ato, who, like other faction leaders, does not recognise the legitimacy of the Transitional National Government (TNG), told IRIN that he had come, "willing to talk and achieve general solutions".

Meanwhile other senior faction leaders said they would not be going to Nairobi for the talks. Husayn Aydid told IRIN on Tuesday that he would be going to a meeting in Ethiopia instead. Aydid and several other opposition Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) members, including Muse Sudi Yalahow and Gen Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan, who arrived in Ethiopia on Tuesday, have repeatedly said they would not sit down and talk with Abdiqassim in his capacity as TNG president.

Usman Ato, however, told IRIN that he hoped some of his fellow faction leaders would think again and participate in the talks. "My message to those SRRC members who have decided not to come is that we Somalis have done a lot of killing and we have destroyed a lot, but we have not achieved very much. I urge all my colleagues to join the meeting and put their case." Ato refused to comment on speculation that his attendance suggested a willingness on his part to join the government.

AFP reported on Wednesday that President Moi would perform the official opening of the talks.