Hopes of revitalising peace talks

The facilitators of stalled Somali peace talks are hoping to make progress this week with the start of discussions on Wednesday on the rules of procedure for phase three of the talks, a source close to the negotiations told IRIN. Participants at the talks taking place in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, had been given a draft copy of the rules, and were expected to begin discussing them on Wednesday in a series of committees, he said. "The committees should be up and running by tomorrow," the source said. It was important that the draft rules, which had been approved by the ministers of the facilitating Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), be discussed thoroughly by the Somalis themselves so that they could take over "ownership" of the process, the source added. Each of the political groups taking part in the talks had been asked by the IGAD mediators to provide a list of three members for the committees. But by Tuesday lunch-time not all of the names had been forwarded. The IGAD facilitators were also trying to ensure that all the traditional elders would return to Kenya, the source added. About 30 out of 174 traditional elders had left, he said, whereas only one or two of the political leaders were absent. A number of leaders walked out of peace talks in Nairobi, and have been holding meetings this month in the town of Jowhar, 90 km north of Mogadishu. Awad Ashara, a spokesman for the self-declared region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia, told IRIN on Tuesday that "outstanding issues" remained from phase two of the peace talks, including the contentious issue of article 30 of the Transitional Federal Charter of Somalia, which was supposed to have been launched on 13 March. "Until this is agreed upon, we cannot go on to phase three," he said. Article 30, which deals with the selection of members of parliament, is unclear on how the selection should be effected and by whom. On 29 January, 43 Somali leaders met in Nairobi and signed what was described at the time as "a landmark breakthrough" agreement on a number of contentious issues that had earlier been plaguing the peace talks. However, on 19 March, 17 of these leaders, calling themselves the "Somali Leaders' Committee" (SLC), issued a statement accusing the mediators of mismanagement and unnecessary interference in the peace process. The SLC said IGAD had created too many political factions, which had been given an undue say in the selection of MPs. The group also accused the mediators of taking over the talks. "The ownership of the peace process was taken away from the Somalis, and the whole course of events is now driven by imposition of instructive statements," it said. The SLC went on to warn that its members would withdraw from the talks "unless these gruesome mistakes are fully addressed". Meanwhile, on 20 March, another group of leaders expressed support for the talks. It condemned the SLC's threatened withdrawal and instead called for the "pushing of the conference to its final stage, which is the formation of transitional government without delay". These leaders added that "insistence on 24 + 1 is no longer relevant and is seen as blackmail", noting that the talks "being in phase three, everybody has to come on board with his clan/subclan". The SLC is insisting that selection of MPs must be done by the 24 leaders who signed the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of October 2002, plus Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, the Transitional National Government president. The IGAD facilitation committee and observers at the peace talks have said that article 30 was clarified by the Kenyan foreign minister, Kalonzo Musyoka, and that the peace process should move into phase three. Musyoka's 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 IGAD-sponsored talks began in October 2002 in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, but were moved to Nairobi in February 2003. They have been dogged by wrangles over the interim charter, the number of participants and the selection of future parliamentarians, among other things.