Key Somali peace talks under way

[Xarago]

Somalia's government and the Islamic group that controls the capital have started peace talks in Sudan.

The talks come two weeks after the Union of Islamic Courts took control of Mogadishu from an alliance of warlords.

 

A BBC correspondent said it would be difficult for the two sides to find common ground but the fact that the talks are happening is progress.

 

Earlier, the United States asked the Islamists to hand over three terror suspects, reportedly in Somalia.

 

The Islamist group has repeatedly denied accusations that it is harbouring foreign Islamic fighters.

 

'Long process'

 

It is not clear whether Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf is one of those talking directly to the Union of Islamic Courts delegation in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

 

He had said that he would not talk to the Islamists unless they first recognised his government

Earlier, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir met Mr Yusuf, while Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa spoke to the Islamists separately.

 

"This is the beginning of a long process. Today and from now on we are just starting," Mr Moussa told the Reuters news agency.

 

The 10-member Islamist delegation is led by scholar Ali Mohammed Ibrahim and deputy chairman Sheikh Husein Mohamud Jumaale.

 

BBC East Africa correspondent Karen Allen says accusations by the government that the Islamists are backed by foreign fundamentalists, and counter-claims that the fragile government is getting the support of Ethiopian troops, will make it difficult to find common ground.

 

There are fears of conflict between the Islamic courts, which controls much of southern Somalia, and the interim government, based in Baidoa, 200km north of the capital, Mogadishu.

 

International pressure is mounting for both sides to negotiate a peaceful settlement and to establish Somalia's first effective national government for 15 years.

 

The issue of power-sharing and a ceasefire are bound to be on the table, our correspondent says.

 

There were fears of further clashes over the weekend after the Islamists said Ethiopian troops had crossed the border, apparently in support of Mr Yusuf's government.

 

US U-turn

 

Correspondents say the request to the Union of Islamic Courts is a U-turn for the United States, which is widely believed to have backed the warlords defeated in Mogadishu.

 

Ms Frazer, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said there were many "foreign terrorists" in Somalia but the three most wanted by the US were:

 

 

Comoran Fazul Abdullah Mohammed

Kenyan Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan

Sudanese Abu Taha al-Sudani

She said they had been involved in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 200 people, and the 2002 attacks on Israeli targets in Kenya.

 

The US has offered a reward of $5m for information leading to the capture of Mr Mohammed.

 

"The best way to get America's support to the Somali people in a way that doesn't undermine our interests and their interests is for them to give up these foreign terrorists," Ms Frazer said, after meeting President Yusuf in Kenya.

 

 

Could this meeting cast doubt on the legitimacy of the fragile TFG in terms whether it is influential and authoratarian as the Islamic Courts. The courts rule Mogadishu to Hiiraan and all the way down to Kismayo considering its allies the JVA. While the TFG is formed by individuals who call themselves MP's but do nothing apart from meeting in a big hall in Baydhabo and at most chewing qat in the numerous marvishes that has popped up in Baydhabo. Led by an ailing old man who is megalomaniac, and a prime minister who has no idea of what he is talking about.

Could it just be that the Islamic Courts Union might have an edge in here and we are seeing a new dimension in a newly emerging Somali government?

[Xarago]

Pacts eases Somalia tensions

 

KHARTOUM, Sudan (Reuters) -- The interim government of Somalia and the Islamic Courts movement which took control of the capital Mogadishu this month recognized each other on Thursday after their first direct high-level talks in Sudan.

 

In a written agreement signed by the two sides, they also agreed to further talks in Khartoum on July 25, officials said.

 

Somali Foreign Minister Abdullahi Sheekh Ismail and the head of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) delegation, Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, embraced each other after the signing.

 

Delegations from the two sides met on Thursday under Arab League auspices in the Sudanese capital after mediators held separate meetings with them in the morning in an attempt to avert a confrontation which could extend years of conflict.

 

Sudan had invited the two delegations to Khartoum and called an Arab League meeting to prevent a new war in Somalia, which has not had a strong central government for the past 15 years.

 

In the written document the interim government recognized "the reality" of the ICU, which in return recognized "the legality" of the government. Both sides agreed to stop all military and propaganda campaigns, it added.

 

Tensions rose between the government and the Islamists after the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) seized Mogadishu on June 5 and then advanced to seize a strategic swath of southern Somalia.

 

The government has infuriated the Islamists by calling for international peacekeepers and saying Muslim fundamentalists from around the world helped them secure Mogadishu.

 

The two delegations met in a conference center on the banks of the Blue Nile, along with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol.

 

ICU chairman Sheikh Sharif Ahmed did not come in person but sent a 10-man delegation led by Ibrahim.

 

The government had kept its distance from the Islamists and on Wednesday a spokesman had said direct talks would have to take place at a later date and inside Somalia.

 

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[Thierry.]

Alxamdullilah let this Inshallah be the beginning of more positive news to come from the meeting and future relations

[Duufaan]

it is a good news indeed. Much of difficults is still ahead. The court was recognized as powerfull organisation in somali politics, while the court recognized the TNG. The court must get grip now the area they controll . This agreement will allow the court to be treated like puntland goverment. But the biggest winner must to be the TNG and Odey Abdulaahi