Agence France-Presse,
MOGADISHU: Talks to halt fighting in Somalia end in failure on Thursday, prompting foreign diplomats to press for a new and all-inclusive approach to rescue the African nation from deeper turmoil.
At least 1,000 delegates drawn from all Somali clans ended six weeks of negotiations in northern Mogadishu, where the government is facing a deadly insurgency, with a call not to give up.
The UN special envoy for Somalia Francois Fall urged the fledgling government “to reach out to all opposition groups, those within and outside Somalia.”
“In this regard, I once again call on both sides to demonstrate political will and courage to engage in serious negotiations,” he told about 2,500 delegates and observers attending the closing ceremony.
Other diplomats said a different approach was key to pacifying the country, where numerous UN-backed initiatives have unravelled under a welter of clan feuds and power struggles.
“We know this conference has gone nowhere. The problem is blind confidence in the (government),” a foreign diplomat told AFP, but Somali elders argued that at least such talks had been managed.
“We all wanted to support it and we all did (that, but) it did not rise to the occasion, so we need a different approach now,” said the diplomat, who asked not to be named.
President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed said “reconciliation is open until Somalia becomes a peaceful country,” but gave no specific outcomes.
“I encourage you delegates to maintain your efforts to bring peace,” Yusuf added.
Elders said the attendance level at the Somali National Congress was in itself a favourable first step.
More than 1,000 delegates — of the invited 3,000 — representing the country's five clans met in Mogadishu to discuss power and wealth sharing, among other issues.
Security was tight in the seaside capital, with Ethiopian forces patrolling key intersections.
“The meeting is closing but the reconciliation remains open, it does not mean we have solved everything but the results we obtained show the congress is a stepping stone for future peace,” said Mohamud Haji Mohamed, an elder.
The meeting, which opened on July 15, was requested by foreign nations and sponsored by the transitional government of Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi.
The government's main Islamist foes, who were defeated earlier this year with the help of neighbouring Ethiopia, boycotted the conference, as did a large part of Mogadishu's dominant Hawiye clan.
Western intelligence agencies have accused the Islamists of links with Al Qaeda groups and this year US forces attacked positions in the country believed to be an haven for extremists. This worsened relations between the Somali foes.
“To move the reconciliation process forward, there is an urgent need to delink the settlement of the political crisis in Somali from a legitimate concern about terrorism in the region,” Fall said.
“To fight terrorism in this country is to pursue open dialogue and genuine reconciliation among all the parties Somalia.”
Some elders scoffed at the talks, the latest peace endeavour in a country which has defied a dozen initiatives to end the bloodshed that has continued almost uninterrupted since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
“It started and elders met to drink coffee in a big hall but nobody seems able to explain what the real outcome is. I believe this congress was just a holiday break for elders from faraway regions,” said Haji Adan Mohamed, a Hawiye elder.
He and many others present and in the streets of Mogadishu pointed out that violence had escalated in the capital despite the peace talks.
“Mogadishu, which is hosting the congress, is in flames and we should find ways of bringing all the stakeholders together including the insurgents,” Amino Hasan Warsame, one of the few women who attended the conference, told AFP.
Islamist and other key opposition players will be holding their own meeting in the Eritrean capital Asmara on September 1, with a focus on demanding an end to Ethiopian occupation.
The government has blamed Islamists for the almost daily guerrilla-style attacks in Mogadishu against government targets, Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers, killing dozens every week.
Civilians have borne the brunt of the violence, which has seen government troops often accused of indiscriminate raids in response to insurgent attacks.
