Factions unlikely to attend regional summit

Somali faction leaders opposed to the Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia are unlikely to be invited to attend a regional summit in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, later this week, a Sudanese official told IRIN on Tuesday. The ninth summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), which will be hosted by Sudan on 10 and 11 January, "will involve head of states only", the official said. "I am not aware of anyone else being invited," he added. Husayn Aydid, a faction leader and member of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council, a grouping of southern factions opposed to the TNG, was quoted by Reuters news agency on Monday as saying that the group planned to attend the summit, which will bring together heads of state of Djibouti, Kenya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. "The summit will probably discuss, among other regional issues, the Somali reconciliation process, but it is unlikely to introduce new initiatives," a regional expert told IRIN. The possibility, therefore, of faction leaders being invited to participate was a remote one, he added.