Thierry. Posted October 15, 2006 By Guled Mohamed MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's parliamentary speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan has given up his role as the government's chief negotiator at talks with rival Islamists, a Somali legislator said on Sunday. The speaker, who could not be reached for comment, left after a split with Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi who strongly opposed the power-sharing talks. "I can confirm the speaker of parliament has resigned in his capacity as the chairman of the government committee that is negotiating with the Islamic courts," legislator Mustaf Duhulow told Reuters by phone from Nairobi. The Arab League is mediating talks in the Sudanese capital Khartoum between the Mogadishu-based Islamists and the internationally recognised but virtually powerless interim government. The rise of the Islamists, who have laid down strict sharia law as they have seized most of southern Somalia since taking Mogadishu in June, has eclipsed the fractious government and its plans to impose central rule on a land in anarchy since 1991. The legislator said Gedi, forced to publicly support the talks in a political deal cut after he narrowly survived a no-confidence vote, was working against the speaker. "Ali Mohamed Gedi wrote letters to the international community telling them the speaker does not represent the government," Duhulow said. Gedi could not be reached for comment. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
