Kenyan envoy urges TNG president to return to talks

Kenyan envoy Muhammad Abdi Affey, who last week travelled to Mogadishu, said he had asked Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, the president of Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG) to return to peace talks in Nairobi.

He told IRIN on Monday the request was made in an official message from the Kenyan government. "I had a warm reception and we had a very fruitful discussion," Affey said. "We are waiting for a formal response from them [TNG] today or tomorrow."

He declined to speculate on whether the TNG would return to the talks or not. "The president told me that he would consult his parliament and cabinet before making any decisions," he stated.

Last month, Abdiqassim walked out of the peace talks in Kenya, saying they were leading towards the "dismemberment" of Somalia.

However, a splinter group of the TNG led by Hassan Abshir and Abdallah Derow - the prime minister and speaker of parliament who were dismissed by the TNG parliament last week - is continuing to participate in the conference. The two men say the move by the parliament was illegitimate and that they continue to represent the interim government at the Nairobi peace talks.

According to a local journalist, the TNG has set up a committee to formulate a response to the Kenyan government and was likely to set out its position "no later than Tuesday". He added the TNG would probably attach certain conditions to its return.

A senior TNG source declined to say whether Abdiqassim would return or not.

"We are still in the process of reconciling the recommendations of the parliament and those of the cabinet," he told IRIN. "Once we come up with a unified position, we will able to tell you something. Nothing has so far been decided, and anything to the contrary you might hear will be pure rumour and speculation."