President accuses factions of rights abuses

The president of the Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia, Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, on Wednesday accused Somali faction leaders opposed to the TNG of human rights abuses, saying they would be brought before a court of law, a senior official told IRIN. The president told a women’s group that the TNG had since its inception been reluctant to bring charges against these faction leaders, hoping that they "would participate in the reconciliation process in good faith", but their rejection of the reconciliation conference convened by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi had made it very clear that they were not interested in peace, according to Abdirahman Dinari, the TNG’s director of information. The president told his audience that that the TNG was losing patience with the faction leaders, because they "are not interested in peace and reconciliation", said Dinari. The talks, convened by Moi, were initially thrown into doubt by the refusal of some senior faction leaders to participate. The Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), a grouping of southern factions opposed to the TNG, said in a statement on 11 December that the SRRC would not take part in the talks, "because the TNG is claiming to be the legitimate government". The talks, which ended on 23 December, were attended by the TNG prime minister, Hasan Abshir Farah, who led a high-ranking delegation to the talks, while the SRRC secretary-general, Mawlid Ma'ane, faction leader Usman Hasan Ali Ato and members of other opposition factions, such as, Husayn Aydid's Somali National Alliance, and Umar Finish, the deputy to Muse Sudi Yalahow, leader of the United Somali Congress/Somali Salvation Alliance (USC/SSA), also attended. Abdiqassim said the TNG would compile a list of faction leaders who were "causing insecurity and committing human rights abuses against the Somali people" and forward them "to proper international bodies", Dinari told IRIN.