Somalia: AL chief proposes to host reconciliation conference

The Arab League has expressed its readiness to host a Somali reconciliation conference. Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdul Meguid proposed to Somali leaders Hussein Aideed and Ali Mahdi Muhammad while receiving them on Monday inviting the leaders of the Somali groups to a meeting sponsored by the AL in order to achieve Somali reconciliation.

The two Somali leaders, Aideed and Mahdi, arrived in Cairo several days ago. They met with Egyptian officials concerned with the Somali file in order to discuss measures that will be conducive to eliminating inter-Somali conflicts and what has been so far achieved of the Cairo agreement signed at the end of 1997.

In a statement issued by the AL on Monday, the AL chief said the AL "called on the two Somali leaders to shoulder their responsibilities and to work for restoring security and stability to Somalia."

Aideed visited the Libyan capital, Tripoli, before Cairo and met there with several Libyan officials, asking them to help for convening the Baidoa conference for reconciliation, the conference which has been postponed repeatedly.