Somali exile government opts to return; but not to Mogadishu

21 Mar 2005

Nairobi (dpa) - Somalias government in exile, created last year in Kenya, decided Monday to move to Somalia, but outside the war-torn capital of Mogadishu.

Cabinet ministers voted for a relocation, but the leadership planned to set up base in two cities; Baidoa and Jowhar in the centre and south of the country.

Primer minister Mohammed Ali Ghedi told a press conference in Nairobi that a date for the relocation had not yet been set. The government lacked moving expenses, and was depending on help from international donors.

Ghedi said the government would set up an office in Mogadishu. Ten of the 74 cabinet members walked out of the meeting. Among the ten were some of the most prominent warlords in Somalia.

Somalia, ravaged by factional warfare since for the last 14 years, got a parliament and government last year after lengthy peace talks in Kenya. But the government was soon divided over the issue of asking for peacekeepers to provide security for the new government in the still heavily armed and dangerous country.

President Abdullahi Yusus Ahmed requested peacekeepers from the African Union, a move which was opposed by several powerful warlords turned cabinet members, who said security could and should be provided by Somali forces.

There has been particular opposition against the proposed deployment of troops from Ethiopia, which has been accused of interfering in Somali politics in the past.

Last week, the regional grouping IGAD (Inter Governmental Authority on Development) decided to deploy 6,800 peacekeepers to Somalia, but defused the worst tension by saying troops would, in a first phase, be drawn from Uganda and Sudan.

On Monday, thousands of people, mainly followers of the main warlords, protested in Mogadishu against the planned IGAD peacekeeping force.

dpa ve jm