Urgent measures needed to save peace talks, says report

Urgent measures needed to save peace talks, says report

The Eldoret peace process represents Somalia's best chance for peace in many years, but still faces considerable difficulties, says a report released this week by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG).

Based on a number of visits to Eldoret in November, the ICG calls for urgent measures to save the peace process from what it describes as the verge of collapse.

The report urges visible and sustained international political support for the conference, including willingness to enforce the arms embargo and to impose sanctions on faction leaders who hinder the peace process. It says that rivalries between regional powers will have to be addressed, and that conference management must be improved.

The talks are taking place under the auspices of the regional body Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia make up the IGAD technical committee which is piloting the talks under Kenyan chairmanship.

The conference has now moved into its second phase, involving the work of six technical committees on core issues such as federalism, disarmament and property rights. Informed sources told IRIN that the technical committees had held meetings earlier this week but that the committees lacked a quorum as wrangling continued over the allocation of seats.

A number of participating groups have complained not only about seat allocation on the committees, but also about the management of the conference. They accuse the IGAD technical committee of continually shifting the goalposts.

The conference was suspended for four days on Wednesday, owing to a Kenyan public holiday on Thursday. It is due to resume on Monday.

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