1,325 Delegates To Attend Somalia Conference Of Clans

Ali Mahdi, conference chairman

MOGADISHU, Somalia, May 19 2007 - The chairman of the Somali reconciliation congress said on Saturday that 1,325 delegates will participate at the June conference.

Ali Mahdi Mohamed, a former Somali president, said the 3,000 figure the government previously estimated was wrong.

The transitional government, backed by Ethiopia and the African Union, plans to host the national reconciliation “conference of clans” in Mogadishu beginning June 14.

Mr. Mahdi said clans from the Somaliland region will participate at the June conference as represented by their elders. A committee of 28 members will be dispatched this week across Somalia to deliver invitations to various delegates, the conference chairman said.

There are genuine fears that insurgents might use violence to disturb the conference.

Four AU peacekeepers, all from Uganda, were killed over the weekend in a roadside bomb.

Source: Garowe Online News

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