Peace talks enter critical stage

The Somali peace talks, currently under way in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have entered their final and critical stage, Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka told delegates on Wednesday when he opened a plenary session of the conference.

The minister appealed to the Somali leaders "to put your differences aside" for the sake of the Somali people.

The talks, which opened on 15 October 2002, have been held up by wrangling over the allocation of seats to drafting committees and to the plenary sessions.

Musyoka, who symbolically tabled the committees' reports, accused some factions of "blatantly" violating the cessation of hostilities agreement signed by the Somali parties on 27 October last year. Under the terms of the agreement, the Somali groups undertook to suspend all hostilities for the duration of the peace conference.

Since then there have been multiple violations, with fighting breaking out in the capital, Mogadishu, the towns of Las Anod in the northeast and Baidoa in the southwest, and in the Bari, Bay, Bakol, Gedo and Lower Shabelle, Middle Shabelle and Middle Juba regions.

"Arrangements are at an advanced stage to implement targeted sanctions against those leaders who violate the ceasefire or interfere with the process," Musyoka warned.

He added that inasmuch as the conference was about enter its third and final stage, there was a need "to convene an international pledging conference for Somalia in the near future" to support the establishment of institutions for a government in Somalia.

The third and final stage of the conference is supposed to start "in three to four weeks time", a Somali delegate told IRIN on Thursday. This final phase involves the contentious issue of power sharing, and "will be the most difficult", he added.

"Every faction leader here wants a bigger share than he will probably get," the delegate noted. "It will take a Herculean effort to convince all of them to settle for less than what they expect for the greater good."

Peace talks mediator, Bethwel Kiplagat of Kenya, said he saw "signs of hope that we'll bring this process to a fruitful end". He said he hoped the conference would agree on a transitional government by mid-June.