TFG, UIC delegations depart for Khartoum talks

After initially delaying a second round of peace negotiations, delegations from Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which controls the capital, Mogadishu, have left for the Sudanese capital Khartoum to resume talks, officials said.

The talks, being mediated by Sudan, which is chairing the Arab League, are to commence on 31 August.

The negotiations are seen as the "best hope to end Somalia's suffering", said Abdullahi Shirwa of the Civil Society in Action NGO.

"This is a critical and an important opportunity and should not be missed. I hope both sides realise this and will grasp it."

A UIC delegation, led by chairman Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, arrived on Sunday and met Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. "We have made it clear that we will participate," said Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Umar, the UIC vice-chairman.

Umar said the composition of the UIC delegation may change "but the UIC will have a strong delegation in Khartoum. We expect positive results from the talks, if the other side is genuine," he added.

For its part, the TFG is sending a high-level delegation led by the Speaker of the Parliament, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, the government spokesman, Abdirahman Dinari, told IRIN.

He said the 16-member delegation was expected in Khartoum on Tuesday. "The government is committed to the talks and is prepared to implement any agreement reached," Dinari added.

Meanwhile, the UIC has opened two camps to train and rehabilitate up to 1,000 former militias loyal to the defeated warlords.

"We have about 700 men in the Hiilweyne camp [a former military training camp 25km north of Mogadishu] and another 300 in Laanta Buur [a former prison, 35 km south of Mogadishu]," said Umar.

"They are to be rehabilitated to enable them to rejoin society as productive citizens," he said.

The militias are being trained by former Somali military officers.

Umar said that the first trainees were encamped on 22 August but the process of demobilising and training former militias was ongoing and would see more young men being demobilised and taken to the camps.

ah/mw