TNG raises concerns with technical committee

Members of Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG) in Mogadishu have met officials from a technical committee set up to prepare for reconciliation talks, due to be held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The TNG information minister, Abdirahman Adan Ibrahim "Ibbi", told IRIN on Friday they were received last night by officials from the foreign ministry and given the opportunity to meet anyone they wanted.

The technical committee, set up by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which is brokering the reconciliation talks, is made up of Somalia's immediate neighbours - Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. However, Djibouti failed to accompany the other two countries on the fact-finding mission to Somalia earlier this week, expressing concern that there had not been enough preparation for the visit.

The information minister said that while the meeting in Mogadishu had been useful, the TNG had nevertheless expressed various concerns regarding the reconciliation conference. "If you are not in agreement among yourselves, how can you hope to make agreements between all the Somali factions?", he asked, referring to the rift among the technical committee members.

He told IRIN the fact-finding mission could not really have a successful outcome, as one of the frontline states was not taking part. "There is division among them," he said.

The TNG also informed the technical committee it had a right to know all the issues that were being discussed and the preparations under way. Abdirahman said the TNG was concerned that the committee had not given any details of its itinerary, and had started its mission in Somaliland and Puntland, rather than in the capital, Mogadishu.

He said the TNG was also seeking clarifications on who was eligible for participation in the conference. He warned that reconciliation "could be in doubt" unless there was a "clear understanding" of the problems in Somalia, which, he said, were mostly clan-based. This was why participation was so important and had to be clarified, he added.

The technical committee members were due to leave for Baidoa later on Friday, before returning to Nairobi.

Meanwhile, the self-declared republic of Somaliland has announced it will not take part in the Nairobi conference, official Radio Hargeysa reported. It quoted the Somaliland foreign minister, Muhammad Sa'id Ges, as saying - after meeting the technical committee members - that Somaliland "is an independent state and not part of Somalia and its problems".

"Hence it will not attend the IGAD peace conference nor send observers," he said. He however welcomed the IGAD initiative aimed at bringing peace to Somalia, the radio reported.

The Nairobi reconciliation conference was due to have taken place later this month, but observers say it is extremely doubtful that it will go ahead on schedule.