Gov't boycotts peace talks with Islamic group

Peace talks scheduled for Saturday in Sudan between Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Union of Islamic Courts, currently in control of the capital, Mogadishu, stalled after the government boycotted the talks.

However, a Somali member of parliament told IRIN on Monday that the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) had voted to attend reconciliation talks, sponsored by the Arab League. Saturday's talks were to have taken place in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

A delegation from the UIC, which controls Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia, is already in Khartoum, but the TFG has declined to send a delegation, accusing the UIC of violating an earlier agreement.

"Parliament believes that the TFIs [transitional federal institutions] were set up to further the reconciliation process and we are all agreed that we should attend the talks," said MP Abdulkadir Sheikh Muhammad.

He said no decision had been made "on when and the number of people going to Khartoum, but there is no question that we are going".

The two sides had met on 22 June in Khartoum and agreed to meet again on 15 July. At the time, the two also agreed to recognise each other and engage in dialogue.

"They [UIC] have violated the Khartoum agreement by engaging in fighting in Mogadishu and capturing new territory and that is why the government could not go to the meeting at this time," Abdirahaman Dinari, the government spokesman, told IRIN.

However, Dinari said future talks were possible "if the UIC proves that they are ready for peace and stop planning for war".

The UIC, on its part, denied that it had violated the agreement. "I think everybody, including the mediators, knows that we did not violate any agreement," said Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali, UIC vice-chairman.

He said the TFG's decision not to participate in the Khartoum talks was "an attempt on their part to derail the talks before they even began", adding, "if they had the interest of the people at heart they would be there".

Sheikh Ali said a UIC delegation was in Khartoum to meet "anybody who would contribute to the reconciliation process", referring to the parliament's decision to take part in the talks. Dinari, however, said that parliament had no role in the talks "since negotiations with outside groups were the domain of the executive".

Meanwhile, in Mogadishu, civil society groups expressed their dismay at government's refusal to take part in the Khartoum talks.

"We are saddened and dismayed by the position taken by the government. We urge them to reconsider their position. Whatever their reasons [for not going], dialogue is the only option today for Somalia," a member of the civil society said.