Talks gets into crucial stage

The Somali peace talks yesterday entered the final and crucial third phase. This signals a hope that peace may soon return to the war-ravaged Horn of Africa country.

And African ministers involved in the process warned Somali leaders against deliberately holding their country hostage by delaying a solution to peace.

Foreign Affairs Minister Kalonzo Musyoka made the announcement yesterday after a two-day meeting of an Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) committee of African ministers involved in negotiating the peace.

Yesterday’s event is important because the talks seemed to have stagnated since after January when Somali leaders signed an agreement on contentious issues that had ealier plagued the talks.

But later, a section of the leaders called for the postponement of the third phase while others demanded they be held in Somalia.

Huge bills have accumulated as a result of the one-year-old talks.

Reading a joint statement by the ministers, Kalonzo said all Somalis were welcome to give their views on the peace, but warned against delaying the process.

"The ministers further warned that punitive measures would be taken against those who would be found obstructing and frustrating the remainder of the process," he said

Kalonzo was speaking at the Kenya College of Communications Technology, Mbagathi, the venue of the peace talks.

Countries involved in the two-day meeting held on Friday and Saturday are Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda and the African Union. It was also attended by representatives of at least 10 other countries.

The ministers said they would mobilise the international community to recognise the Somali government to be established after the talks.

Earlier, the meeting was thrown into disarray when members of the fifth clan disagreed on issues to present to the ministers.

Kalonzo had to cool tempers when nearly everyone in the meeting demanded to talk.