Somali Reconciliation Conference Ends Thursday
30 August 2007
Somalia's national reconciliation conference is due to end Thursday after six weeks of talks aimed at bringing order to the war-ravaged country.
Some participants say the meeting was a success, noting that more than 1,000 delegates from Somalia's divided clans and factions had met peacefully.
However, elders from Mogadishu's dominant Hawiye clan dismissed the conference, saying the talks were not inclusive and did nothing to stop relentless violence in Mogadishu.
Hundreds of Somalis have died in clashes between insurgents and pro-government forces since the talks began in mid-July. Fighting continued overnight with a gun battle in Mogadishu's Hodan district.
The government deployed extra security forces around the capital Thursday ahead of the conference's closing ceremony.
Opponents of the government, including leaders of Somalia's Islamist movement, plan to hold a rival conference Saturday in the Eritrean capital, Asmara.
Islamists and many of their supporters from the Hawiye clan boycotted the talks in Mogadishu.
The Islamists controlled Mogadishu and other Somali cities for several months last year before being ousted by the U.N.-backed interim government.
The government says the Islamists are responsible for the insurgency that has forced hundreds of thousands of Mogadishu residents to flee the city for safer areas.
Somalia's clans are divided mainly over power and wealth sharing issues while some Islamists also want to set up a state ruled by Islamic law.
Somalia has not had a stable central government since 1991.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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