Puntland reconciliation seminar opens in Kenya

A seminar on peace, reconciliation and conflict in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, has opened in Kenya, according to the Diakonia Sweden nongovernmental organisation (NGO) which sponsored it. Over 35 Somalis were participating, including 15 from the diaspora and 20 "from all sectors of civil society in Puntland", a press statement issued, by the NGO, said on Wednesday. Also participating in the seminar were "international experts on conflict resolution and management", who would make presentations on conflicts in other parts of the world. The seminar, at the Aberdare Country Club in central Kenya, was the first stage in a three-phase "internationally supported peace initiative in Puntland", the statement said. The aim of the peace initiative was to help the people of Puntland in their efforts "to have a forum for a peace dialogue on the current political and constitutional crisis". Puntland declared itself autonomous in 1998, following a conference of local elders who elected Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, as the region's first president for a three-year term. The constitutional crisis emerged after Abdullahi Yusuf, whose term of office ended on 30 June last year, claimed that his mandate had been extended by parliament. Puntland's traditional elders, meeting in Garowe, the regional capital, in July, rejected the extension, and named the former chief justice, Yusuf Haji Nur, as "acting president" until a new administration was appointed. The elders subsequently convened a general congress in August for this purpose and elected Jama Ali Jama in November for a three-year term. However confusion over the Puntland leadership continues, with both Yusuf and Jama claiming to be the region's legitimate authority. The peace initiative follows requests by elders and civil society in Puntland to the international community "to support and facilitate" such a process, the Diakonia Sweden statement said. It said the international community had responded to appeals to encourage peace and stability in Puntland, to restart stalled humanitarian and development projects in the region, and to create the necessary environment for Puntland to effectively participate in the national reconciliation process. The second and third phases of this initiative would take place in Puntland itself and involve elders and civil society groups, the statement added.