Djibouti hosts a reconciliation conference on Somalia
Djibouti-Somalia, Politics, 5/3/2000

Works of the national reconciliation conference in Somalia were opened on Tuesday in Djibouti in the presence of some 400 Somali representatives with the participation of representatives from various UN organizations, including the UN and governments. These include member states in the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) which includes seven states from eastern Africa.

AFP stated that this conference, which was due to be held on April 20 but postponed because of the low number of participants, constitutes the first phase of a peace plan proposed by President Ismael Omar Guelleh of Djibouti that met with an international consensus in an attempt to achieve peace in Somalia which has been suffering from a civil war since 1991, SANA reported.

Among the warlords who partition Somalia, only Ali Mahdi Muhammad who controls northern Mogadishu agreed to take part, while other warlords refused the peace plan proposed by Guelleh.

The Djibouti's peace plan gives priority to the representatives of Somali civil society at the expense of the leaders of the armed groups.

However, the absence of those warlords from the conference creates doubts over the chances for its success, while observers indicate that this operation which was started by the president of Djibouti, which attempts to establish a parliament and a central executive authority in Somalia for a provisional period, will be long.

This current peace initiative is the 13th peace attempt since the collapse of the regime of former Somali President Seyad Berri.

Previous Stories:
  Somali national reconciliation conference postponed   (4/20/2000)
  Peace conference on Somalia this month   (4/14/2000)
  Arab League takes in the Somali peace conference in Djibouti   (3/27/2000)

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