Process moving to phase three, say IGAD ministers

Foreign ministers from member states of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), who met in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 12 March to discuss the Somali peace talks, have supported moving the talks into their third and final phase, a communiqué said. The ministers declared phase two of the talks "complete", saying that "the process is now moving into the preliminary stage of phase three", the communiqué issued on their behalf by IGAD added. They welcomed the Safari Park agreement of 29 January between the Somali groups and "endorsed the clarification to the interpretation of Article 30 of the Charter" given by Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka, who is also the chairman of the IGAD ministerial facilitation committee for the Somali peace talks. On that date, the leaders of the various Somali groups signed what has been described as "a landmark breakthrough" agreement on a number of contentious issues that had earlier plagued the peace talks. Musyoka's 17 February clarification stated that members would be selected "at the subclan levels by recognised political leaders comprising the Transitional National Government, the National Salvation Council, regional administrations, the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council, the G8 and civil society organisations, and be endorsed by genuine traditional leaders". The ministers appealed to Somali leaders who were currently in Somalia "to return to Nairobi immediately to participate in the remaining part of the peace process". They directed the IGAD facilitation committee "to bring all the remaining authentic traditional leaders from Somalia to Nairobi within the next one week". A number of leaders walked out of the talks and have been holding meetings in the town of Jowhar, 90 km north of Mogadishu, to consider convening a parallel conference in Somalia. Others still in Nairobi have since expressed reservations about the talks. The IGAD ministers also welcomed the recent UN Security Council statement condemning those who were obstructing the peace process, and stressed that those persisting on the path of confrontation and conflict would be held accountable.