Somali Peace Talks to Open in Djibouti
News English 10
/May/2008
Waagacusub.com
Somali government officials are set
to hold peace talks in Djibouti Saturday with opposition
leaders, including exiled Islamist figures.
U.N. envoy to Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah says the
face-to-face talks will be attended by seven delegates
from each side. He says the talks will be held without
what he called "external influence."
The talks are taking place despite continued violence in
Somalia. Witnesses in the capital, Mogadishu, say two days
of fighting Thursday and Friday have left at least 25
people dead and more than a dozen injured.
Late Thursday, insurgents briefly seized control of a
police station in in the Waberi area of southern
Mogadishu.
Islamist insurgents have carried out increasingly bold
attacks against the Somali government and its Ethiopian
allies in recent weeks.
Also Friday, authorities in Somalia's autonomous Puntland
region arrested the head of the independent broadcaster,
Somalia Broadcasting Corporation.
It is not clear why he was detained, however, Somali
officials often arrest journalists for their coverage of
the fighting between government troops and insurgents.
Earlier this week, Amnesty International accused Ethiopian
troops of committing war atrocities in Somalia. The
Ethiopian government rejected the allegations and demanded
an apology.
Ethiopia has several thousand troops in Somalia to support
the transitional government.
The government has struggled to assert control over the
country in the face of the Islamist-led insurgency and
bitter clan rivalries.
An Islamist movement controlled Mogadishu and much of
southern Somalia in 2006 before being ousted by the
government and Ethiopian forces.
Source:By VOA News
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