Somalia on eve of long-awaited reconciliation conference

[General Duke]

Somalia on eve of long-awaited reconciliation conference

 

The vanquished Islamists vowed on Friday to disrupt Sunday's meeting and foil any attempt by the government to strengthen its grip on the country.

 

"We will hit the government harder than we did on Wednesday. They are criminals who have sold our country to Ethiopia. We will only talk once our country is free," Islamist commander Maalim Hashi Mohamed reportedly said.

 

Shouting matches and passionate debates are likely, organizers say, but if all goes well, the event should end with handshakes and hugs.

 

"We want this conference to settle all grievances and grudges that each and every Somalian tribe harbors against one another," said conference Chairman Ali Mahdi Mohamed.

 

Mahdi's views were echoed by Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf, who told reporters on Thursday in Mogadishu that no matter what happens, the conference would go ahead as planned.

 

"No matter how much violence escalates in Mogadishu, our will not be broken. Even if a nuclear bomb explodes in Mogadishu ...the conference will be held as scheduled," Yusuf assured.

 

Similar conferences have helped bring stability to Somaliland and Puntland, two semiautonomous regions in northern Somalia but several attempts at a national conference have not borne fruits.

 

Mahdi, who was briefly president of Somalia in 1991, said they failed because they focused on satisfying warlords and politicians, rather than clan leaders who wield the real power.

 

Critics said organizers have refused to release a formal agenda or lay down the ground rules for debates and voting, leading to confusion about what will occur.

 

"Some want to use the conference to reshuffle the government, electing new members of parliament or even a new prime minister. Others want to focus strictly on clan grievances," said a civil society leader.

 

He said some clans are deeply skeptical about whether the transitional government is serious about reconciliation. "They just want to gather their supporters at the conference and then say to the world that Somalia' s problems are fixed," said a lawmaker who did not want to named.

 

"The organizers have yet to make clear who will select the representatives of the clans," one civil society leader said. "Is it the government or the elders -- and which elders?"

 

His clan will not attend the conference unless government restructuring is discussed, he said.

 

"Given the exclusive nature and haphazard manner in which the conference has been organized it may not even take place," said another lawmaker

 

"With a day to go, various clan and civil society leaders are complaining over representation, selection of delegates and the likely TFG dominance over the conference."

 

For the seventh straight day, explosions have ripped through Mogadishu's famed Bakara Market, where Somali and Ethiopian troops have been hunting for insurgents and illegal weapons.

 

Somali residents say the troops have spent more time looting businesses than protecting citizens. Somalis say the market, like most of the city, has been shut down and under an unofficial, 24-hour curfew.

 

The transitional government has been under intense pressure from Western nations to expand its support base by bringing all Somali parties, including moderate Islamists and powerful clans to the negotiating table.

 

But whether the much-sought unity would be achieved during the conference remains to be seen.

 

Source: xinhuanet