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Husayn Muhammad Aydid, present chairman of the recently formed Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), arrived in Baidoa, southern Somalia, on Tuesday. Local sources told IRIN that Aydid arrived at midday, leading a 16-member delegation of the SRRC which reportedly included Usman Hasan Ali Ato, General Abdullahi Nur Gabyow, and Muse Sudi Yalahow.
Aydid's arrival followed efforts by the Chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA, Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud to convince the RRA executive committee to support the visit, local sources said. Eyewitness said many technicals [pick-up trucks mounted with heavy weapons] and militia were on the streets of Baidoa to receive Aydid, a prominent Mogadishu-based opposition faction leader.
Those who opposed Aydid's visit accuse his militia of committing atrocities against the Rahanweyn people during the time his faction controlled Bay and Bakol regions, southern Somalia, from 1995 to 1999, after which it was dislodged by the RRA.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions