NAIROBI, May 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The new Special Representative of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Francois Lonseny Fall, arrived in Nairobi, Kenya on Friday to head the United Nations Political Office for Somalia, which is mandated to spearhead reconciliation talks in the post-conflict Horn of Africa country.
According to a UN news release received here Saturday, Fall will start a round of talks with Somalia's Nairobi-based transitional federal government and other leaders involved in the Somali peace process.
Regional governments including donor nations had asked the United Nations to take the lead in implementing agreements reachedat the Somali National Reconciliation Conference, including respecting a formula for clan participation in the government and transparency in choosing political candidates.
Annan's last quarterly report in February to the Security Council expressed misgivings over the security situation in Somalia.
The UN representative came as the exile interim government announced it will officially start relocating from Nairobi to the war-torn Horn of Africa nation at the end of this month.
The fledgling government has remained in the relative safety ofneighboring Kenya since its formation last year.
Previous relocation plans have been unmet because of escalatinginsecurity.
A rift over where the new administration should be based has divided the Somali government and slowed down relocation plans.
Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi and President Abdullahi Yusuf want to base the government outside the lawless capital of Mogadishu, which they say is too dangerous and instead favor a move to the southwestern town of Baidoa.
But powerful Mogadishu warlords in the government insist Mogadishu must be the capital as stipulated by the constitution.
The African Union approved a plan last week to send Ugandan andSudanese troops to help the government relocate to Somalia.
However, Sudan and Uganda have announced they would delay deploying troops they promised to send to Somalia, arguing that condition in Somalia was not suitable for such mission.
Another hindrance to deployment, the analysts said, was the lack of consensus among many Somalis about the proposed peacekeeping force.
Somalia had no central government from 1991 until October 2004,when the transitional government was formed in Kenya after two years of peace talks between Somali clans and factions.
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