Plenary to debate draft charter

The plenary session of the Somali peace talks in Kenya was due to reconvene on Tuesday to debate the country's draft charter.

James Kiboi of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) technical committee, which is steering the talks, told IRIN the draft was first read out to delegates on Saturday, when Kenyan deputy foreign minister Joab Omino opened the plenary.

The session was then adjourned so that delegates could "read and reflect" before reconvening on Tuesday, said Kiboi who is the committee's political and diplomatic liaison officer.

"Today [Tuesday] will see substantive discussions, debate and intervention. Chances are that the document will be adopted today," he added.

The draft charter, which has generated a great deal of controversy, has been dismissed by an independent assessment commissioned by the Dutch NGO, NOVIB. The report described the draft charter as a "mongrel" and recommended discarding it completely.

Some of the participants, including members of Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG) have also rejected the charter. But others, including the opposition Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) and other TNG members, have hailed it as a "compromise of opposing views".

Kiboi told IRIN the adoption of the charter "will mark the successful conclusion of the second phase of the conference and the ushering in of the third and final phase shortly after".

The third phase of the conference would be devoted to the issue of power-sharing, after which an interim government would have been formed, Kiboi said.

The IGAD-sponsored talks on Somalia began in October 2002 in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, but were moved to the capital, Nairobi, in February this year.