Peace talks adjourned

The Somali peace talks currently under way in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret have been adjourned until after the Kenyan elections, according to a source close to the talks.

The talks being held since 15 October under the auspices of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) "will break for the Christmas holidays and the Kenyan elections [scheduled for 27 December]" Peter Nyaga, of the press liaison centre of the Kenyan foreign ministry, told IRIN on Tuesday. "The talks will resume in earnest by Monday [30 December]", he said.

Nyaga added that most of the Somali delegates were still in Eldoret, but that most of the facilitators, "including the IGAD technical committee, are out of town".

Also leaving Eldoret were the surplus delegates, whose transport costs back to Somalia were being met by IGAD, Somali sources told IRIN. "People have been leaving all this week. In fact, there is a plane leaving this morning [24 December] for Somalia," said one source.

Last week the Somalis agreed to reduce the number of delegates from over 700 to 300.

Nyaga told IRIN that the talks had been going well and that the current phase [phase two, which includes discussions on a provisional federal charter, disarmament, and land issues] would probably be concluded by the end of January, after which the conference would move into its third stage.

In phase three, the delegates would be discussing the contentious issue of power-sharing and the establishment of an all-inclusive government, he said.