Somali president urges bickering MPs, ministers to return to Kenya

NAIROBI, April 21 (AFP) - Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed on Thursday urged bickering members of the lawless country's government and parliament in exile to return here for a key meeting next week on relocating to Somalia.

In a bid to break a fractious deadlock over where and when the transitional government should move, Yusuf called on scores of MPs and ministers now in Mogadishu to leave and attend a final meeting on the subject in Nairobi.

"The president appeals to all members of the parliament and cabinet who are in Mogadishu to join our final session regarding the national relocation and security plan in Nairobi, Kenya," Yusuf's spokesman said in a statement.

"Each institution and its members have to show honest commitment to a peaceful and secure re-establishment of the transitional federal institutions inside Somalia in the interest of the highest national good," said the spokesman, Yusuf Mohamed Ismail Baribari.

Some 70 Somali lawmakers and ministers are now in Mogadishu on unilateral relocation missions that may threaten already slim chances for the transitional government to reach a consensus on the matter.

Yusuf and Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi want to move the government to the towns of Baidoa and Jowhar due to continued insecurity in Mogadishu, a proposal which has drawn heavy criticism from their rivals, many of whom are warlords who currently control the capital.

The controversy over the move and the composition of proposed regional peacekeeping mission to assist the government's move resulted in a fightfight between Somali lawmakers last month.

The deadlock led some MPs and cabinet officials to embark on trips to Mogadishu in bids to pacify the city by urging the cantonment of the myriad militias operating there.

Among those now in the capital are deputy prime minister Mohamud Jama Sifir, national security minister Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, trade minister Musa Sudi Yalahow, public works ministers Osman Hassan Ali Atto and religious affairs minister Omar Mohamud Mohamed Finish, officials said.

Through his spokesman, Yusuf in his first public acknowledgement that the officials were in Somalia, pledged that their efforts and views would be incorporated into a final decision on relocation.

Bullet-scarred Mogadishu has been a hub of instability in Somalia which has been ruled by fractious warlords since the Horn of Africa nation was plunged into anarchy after the 1991 ouster of strongman Mohammed Siad Barre.

amu/mvl/nb AFP 211636 GMT 04 05