More new Somali lawmakers sworn in

29 Aug 2004 16:30:23 GMT
Source: Reuters

NAIROBI, Aug 29 (Reuters) - International mediators swore in more members of Somalia's new parliament on Sunday, edging closer to the establishment of a central authority in the world's only country without a national government.

Sixty-four delegates were appointed at U.N. headquarters in neighbouring Kenya, meaning 258 members of the 275-member assembly are now in place, officials said. More than two-thirds of the new parliament were appointed last week.

"The seating of this parliament has been a huge undertaking," Winston Tubman, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy for Somalia, told the gathering.

The peace process has been hosted by Kenya because of ongoing insecurity in the Horn of Africa country, which has lacked any effective central government since 1991 when warlords toppled military dictator Mohammed Siad Barre and carved the country into clan-based fiefdoms.

The mandate of a week Arab-backed transitional authority expired in 2003.

"All the major armed factions are here, and what is more important is that all neighbouring states are here," Tubman said.

"In previous times, some factions were not there, and the disgruntled parties went on to form alliances with neighbouring states to disrupt the peace process. Not this time."

More than 20 months of peace talks have frequently been delayed by bitter rivalries between Somalia's numerous clans, and by interference from neighbouring states keen to stamp their own brand on the new administration.

When the new parliament is fully established it will elect a president to head a new administration in Mogadishu, but observers say that is unlikely to be the end of Somalia's woes. It is still unclear when the assembly will be established.

Officials say the reason mediators have pushed ahead with two partial inaugurations of the new assembly is to put pressure on clans who had yet to submit their lists of delegates.

They said the remaining 17 members would be sworn in soon.

"Some of them are not in the country and some of them are sick," one official close to the talks told Reuters. "It is mostly logistical problems, but they are all on board."