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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

SOMALIA: Confusion as talks' delegates relocate

NAIROBI, 17 February 2003 (IRIN) - Delegates to the Somali peace talks, arriving at the new venue in Nairobi from the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, have been greeted by chaos and confusion.

The first group of delegates started arriving at the Kenya College of Communications Technology (KCCT) in Nairobi's Mbagathi suburb on Saturday night, only to find that minimal arrangements had been made for them, one delegate told IRIN on Monday.

"We came at about 10:00 p.m. and there was no-one to guide us through the new place. It became a free-for-all, with people grabbing whatever space they could find," said civil society member Saredo Muhammad. "We found only a few security people, and no-one from IGAD [Inter-Governmental Authority on Development - the conference organisers]."

Saredo added that their departure from Eldoret had been delayed by transporters and hoteliers protesting that debts had not been paid. "We were kept waiting in our buses for hours, while IGAD representatives negotiated with the creditors," she said.

Some delegates claimed the confusion was caused by a lack of proper planning. More people had arrived than had been planned for, said Muhammad Mahmud, also a civil society member. About 360 delegates had been due to move, but "almost everyone in Eldoret, including those not on the final list, were transported to Nairobi", he told IRIN.

Saredo added that many of the delegates whose names were on the final list had yet to be accommodated at the KCCT.

Meanwhile, Hasan Abshir Farah, the prime minister of the Transitional National Government (TNG), was injured in a car accident on the way from Eldoret to Nairobi on Sunday.

The car carrying Abshir and several other TNG delegates rolled three times, Abdullah Derow Isaq, the Speaker of the Transitional National Assembly, told IRIN.

"The prime minister only suffered a fractured finger," he said, adding that all the occupants of the car had been taken to Nairobi's Aga Khan hospital for observation, and were later discharged.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

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