Clans struggle to select TNA nominees

Three of the four main clan groups at the Djibouti-hosted Somali National Peace Conference have still to submit nominees for the proposed Transitional National Assembly, despite work by a specially-convened arbitration committee. Of the Darod, the Hawiye and the Digil-Mirifle, the Hawiye are closest to agreeing on their nominees, sources close to the conference told IRIN on Friday. The Djibouti government, which is the sole financer of the talks, has appealed to the Somali conference to have the first meeting of a transitional assembly next week. Only two groups, the Dir and the Alliance of minorities, handed in lists of nominees this week, despite an agreement that the decision of the arbitration committee would be taken as binding.

Disagreement has focused on the number of seats apportioned by the main groups to the sub-clans, and the relative influence of military leaders and politicians. Most contentious is the allocation within the Darod, with the Marehan sub-clan demanding a generous allocation of seats. The Marehan position, which is based on its representation in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, is "tied up with the Abdullahi Yusuf position", one observer told IRIN. Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf is the president of the Puntland administration and has boycotted the talks. Observers and participants at the conference believe the talks could extend into September. "Once the parliament has convened, it must chose a Speaker and then it gets down to the business of power-sharing", one observer told IRIN. The new transitional government is expected to negotiate at some stage with political leaders who have boycotted the conference - now referred to as "the left-behinds". They include Mogadishu-based leaders Hussein Mohamed Aideed, Osman Atto, Musa Sude and Mohamed Kanyare Afrah; the leader of the Puntland administration, Abdullahi Yusuf; and the leader of the self-declared state of Somaliland, Mohamed Ibrahim Egal.