Somalian government boycotting peace talks

The Islamists say they have been subduing pro-warlord militia. Picture / Reuters

MOGADISHU - Somalia's interim government has decided to boycott peace talks due to take place in Sudan at the weekend in protest at alleged ceasefire violations by the Islamist movement running Mogadishu.

The move is a setback to diplomatic efforts to avert armed confrontation between the Western-backed government based in a provincial town and Islamists who took the capital and a swathe of southern Somalia from US-backed warlords last month.

"It was a cabinet decision that we postpone the talks because of the violations of the Khartoum agreement," Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed said by telephone from the government's headquarters in Baidoa.

He was referring to the two sides' agreement during a first round of talks in Sudan on June 22 to stop military campaigns.

The government says the Islamists' subsequent pushes against remaining warlords around Mogadishu, and their announcement of a parallel national administration, broke that accord.

"It is very difficult to trust the Islamic Courts because they have not changed their violent ways," added Aideed, whose own militia was recently attacked by Islamist fighters linked to sharia courts in Mogadishu.

The Islamists, led by hardline cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, say they have been mopping up remnants of pro-warlord militias to ensure peace for the population, and an aide said they did not understand the delay in holding the talks.

"We are ready for the talks and were planning to leave...we don't know why they were postponed," said Abdirahim Isse, an ally of senior moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.

The Islamists' rise has challenged the aspirations of the government, which is not strong enough to move to Mogadishu.

Somalia has been without central rule since 1991 when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted by warlords.

Ethiopian troops have crossed into Somalia to back the government against the Islamists, various sources said on Thursday, increasing fears of a broader conflict.

The Arab League-brokered talks on power-sharing in Khartoum, set for Saturday, were specifically aimed at defusing that.

"It's a real blow that they're not even going to meet each other," said a Western diplomat who tracks Somalia. "What's crucial now is to find out if they are going to meet at a later date, or if the negotiations are off altogether."

Hesham Youssef, chief of staff for the Arab League secretary general, expressed hope the talks would soon be back on track.

"The meeting will be postponed for a couple of days until we see how things evolve," he told Reuters, adding that some government legislators in fact supported the talks.

"The issue is not black and white ... These kinds of negotiations are usually associated with difficulties."

President Abdullahi Yusuf's government is suspicious of the Islamists' desire to impose strict sharia law to tame anarchy in the nation of 10 million.

Another major sticking point is the proposed deployment of foreign peacekeepers in Somalia.

The government says they are needed to bolster its limited authority, while the Islamists say that is unnecessary. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has said such intervention would be a "crusade" against Islam.

On Thursday, the UN Security Council expressed for the first time its willingness to consider the long-delayed deployment, showing readiness to ease an arms ban to enable the interim government to build up its own security forces.

- REUTERS