BiLaaL Posted May 24, 2007 Renegade leaders issue warning 24/05/2007 11:00 - (SA) Asmara - Renegade Somali leaders in Eritrea have called on all Somalis to boycott planned reconciliation talks next month, warning of further violence in the war-torn country if they go ahead. The peace conference, planned for June 14, has been delayed several times due to insecurity in the Somali capital Mogadishu and difficulties in gathering funding. Speaking to reporters in Asmara late on Wednesday, top Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and former parliament speaker Sheikh Sharif Hassan Aden said the proposed peace talks would be futile. "We would like to call for the Somali people to boycott this so-called reconciliation conference, which will be unsuccessful ," they said in a joint statement. The leaders, surrounded by Somali opposition lawmakers, reiterated that "all Somali stakeholders" must take part in any conference to forge a national unity government. The Somali interim government has repeatedly said that Islamist leaders can only take part as representatives of their clans, not of their movement. Ethiopian-Somali forces ousted the Islamic Courts Union from their six-month rule of south and central Somalia at the start of the year. An Ethiopian-Somali offensive last month ended weeks of clashes with Islamist-led insurgents that killed hundreds of civilians and forced tens of thousands to flee Mogadishu. The renegade leaders called on Somalis to keep fighting Ethiopian troops and the Somali interim government. The planned conference was organised to create a "sense of false legitimacy for the Ethiopian occupying forces ", the statement said, calling for an international boycott. Somalia has been without an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre sparked a bloody power struggle that has defied numerous attempts to restore stability. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peacenow Posted May 24, 2007 This is a good idea. Why is a 'peace conference', happening in the country, when it is still under foreign occupation? The rotten tfg want a conference where people are threatned to attend and whose only outcome is to rubber stamp their lacking legitimacy. Fortunently, the people are not fooled and should not attend. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted May 24, 2007 The important word here is renegade their address is in Asmara. Oh its ammusing to say the least. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A.J. Posted May 25, 2007 Well if it wasnt for the ethio troops, the adress of TFG would be in Nairobi, I doubt that was amusing to you was it. Duke, those cowards you support back home cannot hide behind ethio troops forever, They will get what is coming to them soon enough, Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
