IGAD ministers to meet all Somali leaders

The foreign ministers of the member states of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), have called a consultative meeting with all Somali leaders on 20 May in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to try and expedite ongoing peace talks.

The ministers, who ended a two-day meeting in Nairobi on Friday, declared that the Somali peace process "should come to a successful conclusion latest by the end of July," a joint communiqué issued at the end of the meeting said.

Apart from ministers from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, the meeting was also attended by members of the IGAD Partners' Forum (IPF) and other IGAD officials.

The ministers "solemnly declared their total and unreserved commitment to unite in resolving the Somali problem once and for all", and decided to meet again in Nairobi on 20 May "for consultations with all Somali leaders", the communiqué said.

They "appealed to all the absent leaders to return to the conference" before that date.

The talks, which have been in progress for over a year, are in the doldrums since the signing of a transitional charter on 29 January. On that date, the leaders of the various Somali groups signed what was then described as "a landmark breakthrough" agreement on contentious issues that had earlier plagued the talks.

However, a number of those leaders have since expressed reservations about the agreement, and called for the postponement of the third phase of the talks until "contentious issues" are resolved. Others have even called for the next phase of talks to be convened in Somalia.

The IGAD-sponsored talks began in October 2002 in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, but were moved to Nairobi in February this year. They have been dogged by wrangles over issues such as an interim charter, the number of participants in the talks and the selection of future parliamentarians, and internal differences within IGAD.

The IGAD ministers "noted with concern the rising tension in various parts of Somalia and appealed to the leaders for maximum restraint at this critical and final stage of the peace process".

They also voiced concern over the financial situation of the conference, noting that it was "operating on a 52 percent budget deficit as bills continue to escalate". They however acknowledged the financial assistance extended by the IPF and the EU, and "urged other development partners to avail the necessary financial support, especially during this final phase of the peace process".