Slow progress as Somali unity meet turns one month old

By Lutfi Sheriff Mohammed Aug 15, 2007, 20:08 GMT

Mogadishu/Nairobi - A Somali reconciliation conference seen as the last best chance to bring stability to the Horn of Africa country hit the one-month mark Wednesday, but with violence raging in the volatile capital Mogadishu, many obstacles still stand in the way of achieving its goals.

The Hawiye clan, Mogadishu's largest which is accused of being responsible for the attacks against the government in the Somali capital, has split over the conference, with part of the group attending and the other staying out.

The Union of Islamic Courts, which ruled much of the country for the last half of 2006, is also charged with staging the Iraq-style insurgency and has boycotted the meet.

'Until these two groups are brought to the table for discussions peace is likely to remain elusive,' said Hannah Stogdon, a junior analyst with the International Crisis Group conflict think-tank.

With key opposition groups vowing to boycott the conference, many of the 1,000 delegates are government sympathizers, which has evoked accusations that the government of President Abdullahi Yusuf is discouraging dissent.

But despite calls from the international community for more inclusiveness and similar critiques from the opposition, organizers insist the conference is on the right path.

'The conference deliberations are moving from sorting out clan differences to the thorny political issues,' Ali Mahdi, the conference's spokesman, told a Kenyan weekly paper, the East African.

'We trust that the outcomes of this conference will break the terrible cycle of events affecting our people.'

Some delegates agreed, saying the meeting is progressing well, with several agenda items already having been debated and approved.

'I believe people will sit together and talk to solve their disputes,' said Abdullahi Sheikh Hassan, a member of the Hawiye faction that has participated in the meet, which is this week negotiating with its splintered half to find common ground.

Delegates have so far decided that the state should be the only authority to license or sell weapons, a daunting responsibility for a country that is awash with arms.

They have also supported a forgiveness policy to help unite the clan divisions that have plagued Somalia, particularly since it fell into anarchy in 1991.

The opposition has said it will not attend the conference until Ethiopian troops, in the country since late last year to prop up the government, file out, but with violence on the rise and the Ethiopians the only force capable of reckoning with the insurgents, this isn't likely to happen soon.

Despite a curfew, disarmament drives and a 1,500-member African Union peacekeeping force, the government has been unable to secure Mogadishu and mortar shellings, gun battles and explosions have become a way of life for ordinary Somalis.

The conference has been adjourned several times, including on its opening day on July 15, which was punctuated by mortar attacks near the venue. It was originally expected to last 45 days but may have to be extended.

'We have achieved great developments so far,' said Abdirisak Aliyow Osman, a delegate at the meetings. 'We all agree to continue the conference and do it right.'