Interim gov't to move from Nairobi in May, says official

The interim Somali government, which has operated from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, since its formation six months ago is planning to finally relocate to Somalia at the end of May, according to one of its senior officials.

"The entire government will relocate to Somalia no later than the end of May," Abdirahman Dinari, government spokesman told IRIN on Thursday. "We are all preparing for the move."

The government, which includes several faction leaders, has been unable to relocate because of security considerations. It has, however, come under increasing pressure from the Kenyan government and western diplomats to return to Mogadishu.

Dinari said an earlier decision to relocate temporarily to the towns of Jowhar and Baidoa in south-central Somalia "still stands."

Interim Somali President, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, and Prime Minister, Ali Muhammad Gedi, have said the government cannot function in Mogadishu until the city is pacified and secured.

However, a number of prominent former faction leaders want the government to relocate to Mogadishu. Among them are Minister of National Security Muhammad Qanyare Afrah, Minister of Commerce Muse Sudi Yalahow, Minister of Housing and Public Works Usman Hasan Ali Atto and Minister of Religious Affairs Omar Muhammad Filish. They are all currently in Mogadishu.

Meanwhile, Gedi is expected to lead a team of ministers, MPs and members of the international community to visit Mogadishu on 29 April, Dinari told IRIN. It would be the first time Gedi has visited the capital since his appointment as prime minister by Yusuf in December 2004.

"He will be in Mogadishu [for] three to four days and will be holding discussions with members of his government and MPs who are already in Mogadishu," Dinari said.

Some 80 members of a 275-strong parliament are in Mogadishu in an effort to stabilise it.

The prime minister is also expected to meet with the people of Mogadishu and "opinion leaders to disprove the notion that the TFG [transitional federal government] is reluctant to go to Mogadishu," Dinari said.

At the end of the visit, he added, Gedi would try to persuade the MPs and ministers in Mogadishu to return with him to Nairobi "to facilitate the discussions on crucial issues such as the relocation of the government and the status of Mogadishu".

Babafemi Badejo, the officer in charge of the UN Political Office for Somalia, in Nairobi, told IRIN, "Yes, there has been a request from the prime minister, as co-chair of the CMC [Coordination and Monitoring Committee], to accompany him [Gedi] [to Mogadishu]."

The CMC brings together the UN, the TFG and other international organisations and donors on Somalia.

Reports from Mogadishu indicated that the group of MPs and ministers, led by former faction leaders, were making some progress in their attempt to secure the city.

"They seem to be serious about this," said a local journalist. "They have identified six camps which will be used to house militias."

The former faction leaders had also agreed to the appointment of a 13-member committee in charge of security. It consists of former police and military officers and militia commanders, the journalist told IRIN. "The question now," he said, "is when will they start the encampment process and whether the international community will support it."

Abdullahi Shirwa of Peaceline, a civil society group active in the peace movement told IRIN: "We are encouraged by their efforts so far."

He added: "They are facing, head on, their own differences and are intent on resolving them, because key to any stability in the city is the resolution of any differences between them [the former faction leaders]."

Some of the of the Mogadishu-based faction leaders have been at war with each other for years and their rivalry is one of the main reasons why the city has been so insecure.

Shirwa said his group was going to call a meeting of all the civil society groups in the city "within the next two days to find ways [in which] we can support the efforts to pacify the city".

"We also call [on] the international community to support this effort," he added. "This is a window of opportunity for this city and it should not be lost."

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Ugandan army, Maj Shaban Bantariza, told IRIN on Thursday that a Ugandan battalion had been trained and would be deployed to Somalia within a week.

"We have fulfilled all the UN’s standard mission requirements and are awaiting logistical support, which should be available within the next week, before we deploy about 800 men," he said.

Uganda, along with other IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] members, have been mandated to provide peacekeeping troops to help the new government establish itself inside Somalia.