Ethiopia for “two-track” reconciliation process

A four-man Ethiopian delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Tekeda Alemu, visited Garowe, the capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, on Tuesday. The visit follows talks between the Ethiopian government and a high-level delegation from the Transitional National Government (TNG), during which the TNG agreed to Ethiopian mediation with opposition factions.

The delegation included senior military officials, and met Puntland President Abdullahi Yusuf, with whom they discussed the recent talks, Isma’il Warsame, Chief of Cabinet of Puntland President, told IRIN. The delegation also briefed Puntland leaders on recent talks with the opposition Somali Restoration and Reconciliation Council (SRRC) members, he said. The delegation sought the views of the Puntland leadership on the reconciliation process in Somalia, Warsame said. He added that the Ethiopians had agreed that the TNG should concentrate on the south in the first phase of the process, and Somaliland in the second phase. However, the Puntland leaders had disagreed with this “two-track approach”, preferring that there should be “one package for all of Somalia”, he said. “We don’t agree with Ethiopia and the Mogadishu group [TNG] to treat northwestern Somalia as a separate entity” when discussing issues of Somali national reconciliation and unity, Warsame told IRIN.