Talks In Mogadishu, Opposition Asked To Put Down Weapons

Date: 10 Feb 2009

Deputy prime minister Abdallah Bos Ahmed has asked the opposition movements to put down their weapons, while also inviting them to join the government and participate in the reconstruction and stabilization of the country. Bos Ahmed stressed the importance of having the support of the opposition in what he called "a new phase for Somalia" in keeping with a similar invitation offered yesterday by the new president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed who spoke of 'national reconciliation in welcoming a suggestion from the clans to mediate between the government and the armed opposition. The authorities of Somaliland, have sent their best wishes to the new president: "we hope that Sharif, who is young, proves to be different from other politicians of the past and that he might be able to confront, with serenity, the north-south issue". So said Ahmed Yusuf Yasin, president of the separatist region, whose autonomist claims – indeed the very autonomy which it enjoys from the administrative and political point of view – have never received the approval of authorities in Mogadishu. [AB]

Source: Missionary International Service News Agency (MISNA)

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