Somali Islamists Call National Forum

Mogadishu , Somalia, August 20, 2006 – SOMALIA'S newly dominant Islamist movement says it will organize a national forum to chart the lawless country's future, further bypassing the weak government it threatens.

At the same time, the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS) renewed vows to fight the deployment of a proposed east African peacekeeping force, plans for which were finalized last week, saying foreign troops were "not welcome."

In a move decried by the largely powerless transitional administration, the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS) said today it would soon host a "national reconciliation conference" to set a new course for the country.

"We are inviting all the Somali people to attend a national reconciliation conference in Mogadishu," SICS spokesman Abdurahim Ali Muddey told reporters in the capital, which the Islamists seized from warlords in June.

He gave no date for the conference.

"Somalis need to talk to each other and resolve their differences at home without foreign interference," he said, sidestepping questions about whether the gathering was aimed at forming a government to rival the current one.

However, a senior Islamist official left little doubt of the intent of the meeting, denouncing the existing government and its repeated appeals for the deployment of regional peacekeepers to shore up its limited authority.

"The last solace for that administration is foreign military intervention that is not viable in Somalia," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "The Baidoa administration is a waste of time and resources."

In Baidoa, about 250km west of the capital where the transitional government is based due to insecurity in Mogadishu, officials immediately rejected the idea, saying it posed a direct challenge.

Government spokesman Abdrahman Dinari called the conference "unwarranted, irresponsible and a recipe for more political confusion", and urged the Islamists to accept Arab League mediation to resolve differences.

"The call for a new conference is aimed at undermining the existing government and we will not accept it," Mr. Dinari said.

"If the Islamists are interested in peace, they should attend the peace talks mediated by the Arab League."

Source: The Daily Telegraph

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