Contact group meets Somali parties

The United States-led International Contact Group on Somalia began a meeting with officials of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) on Thursday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to discuss the country's political future.

The US assistant secretary for African affairs, Jendayi Fraser, was chairing the meeting. The US set up the contact group, with members from 11 countries, after the UIC took control of Mogadishu in June.

"The president [Abdullah Yusuf] and his delegation are here at the invitation of the contact group," Muhammad Ali, an official in the Somali prime minister's office, said.

The UIC head of communication and information, Abdirahim Ali Mudey, said their delegation was led by the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ibrahim Hassan Adow.

The UIC controls most of southern and central Somalia, including the capital, Mogadishu.

"Our delegation is there to give the contact group our views on the way forward in the reconciliation process," Mudey said.

Somalia's transitional government was installed in late 2004 but in June 2006, the UIC defeated pro-government warlords who had controlled the city. The country had been without a legitimate government for 16 years, following the ousting of the late President Muhammad Siyad Barre in 1991.

Mudey said the UIC saw no alternative to dialogue "and the best solution to our problem is to sit together as brothers and talk".

Delegations from the two sides first met on 22 June in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, for talks facilitated by the League of Arab Nations.

However, negotiations collapsed when the transitional government accused the UIC of grabbing territory and enforcing a strict version of Islamic law in a direct challenge to its authority. For its part, the UIC accused the transitional government of inviting foreign troops into Somalia.

A second round of talks in early September also failed to resolve their differences. A third round is expected in Khartoum on 30 October.

However, Mudey said if the two sides were left alone without "foreign interference, we, as Somalis, would a find a solution acceptable to all".

He said the UIC delegation would meet Yusuf and his delegation "if the opportunity presented itself and the president could come to Mogadishu to see the positive changes".

ah/mw