Saturday, November 04, 2006
By Guled Mohamed
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MOGADISHU, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The speaker of Somalia's interim government will meet the country's Islamists at their Mogadishu stronghold to try to rescue peace talks that collapsed last week in Sudan, both sides said on Saturday.
Tensions have mounted in recent weeks and both sides are apparently preparing for war after failing to meet face-to-face at the third round of Arab League-sponsored talks in Khartoum.
Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan would be the most senior government member to visit the teeming capital since it was seized by the Islamists from U.S.-backed warlords in June.
The government is confined to provincial Baidoa town.
"The speaker will meet the Islamists tomorrow in a bid to continue the stalled talks," said Somali MP Asha Abdallah.
An Islamist spokesman welcomed Adan's planned visit.
"The speaker is a peacemaker," Abdirahim Mudey said.
"The latest Khartoum talks failed because he did not take part. We have confidence in him because he is neutral," Mudey said. "We are very optimistic he can mediate between us."
Both sides' fighters are facing off just 30 km (19 miles) from the administration's sole outpost, Baidoa. The Islamists say they are also facing thousands of Ethiopian troops they say invaded to prop up the fragile Western-backed government.
Islamist sources said their lines were reinforced on Saturday by nearly 700 troops from Somalia's former military.
"The former soldiers have arrived," said one Islamist fighter who asked not to be named. "This is a big boost since they have experience from the last war with Ethiopia in 1977."
Analysts fear an all-out confrontation between the government of President Abdullahi Yusuf and Islamists who control most of southern Somalia could spill over, igniting long-held grudges in the turbulent Horn of Africa region.
Those worries mounted on Wednesday when talks were postponed with mediators urging both sides to exercise maximum restraint.
But a top Islamist leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys -- accused of terrorist links by the U.S. -- called for patience.
"It is not possible to reach an agreement in one meeting," he told reporters in Mogadishu. "The talks have not failed, they are just facing some obstacles. We need neutral, international monitors to verify the Ethiopian presence in Somalia." (Additional reporting by Sahal Abdulle)
Source: Reuters, Nov 4, 2006