Rare Somali talks make slow start, UN hopeful

By Omar Hassan | May 11, 2008

DJIBOUTI (Reuters) - Rare peace talks between Somalia's interim government and opposition exiles have made a slow start in Djibouti, but a senior U.N. official said he was encouraged both sides had turned up.

"I am more than hopeful, the Somalis who I met today are committed to peace and reconciliation and they are ready to do it for the sake of Somalia," the U.N. envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, told reporters in Djibouti late on Saturday.

Delegates from the government and exiles based in Eritrea have yet to meet face-to-face, but Ould-Abdallah and Arab League officials shuttled between the two sides.

"We are going to work with them on how to advance commitment to peace and security, commitment to respect Somali sovereignty, integrity and independence," Ould-Abdallah said.

More than 35 people have been killed and dozens injured in a fresh surge of violence in Somalia since Thursday, casting further doubt on the prospects for the negotiations.

Militants behind near-daily ambushes and roadside bombs targeting government troops and their Ethiopian allies are the remnants of an Islamist movement that was ousted by the government and its Ethiopian allies at the start of last year.

The leaders of that group, and other critics of President Abdullahi Yusuf, have since moved to Ethiopia's arch-foe Eritrea and formed the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia.

They had repeatedly refused to meet government officials until Ethiopian troops left Somali soil. But last month they dropped that demand and agreed to send delegates to Djibouti. (Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Charles Dick)

Somali Islamists ambush government troops: agencies

Meanwhile, Islamist insurgents on Saturday killed five government soldiers in an ambush outside the capital Mogadishu, adding to days of bloodshed that have cast a pall over rare peace talks.

More than 35 people have died since Thursday in clashes between rebels and allied Somali-Ethiopian troops that broke out a week after a militant leader was killed in a US air strike.

Residents said the insurgents targeted government troops in Yaqbaraweyne, a small town west of the capital, and also fought with Ethiopian forces in Towfiq, north of the city. “The Islamists opened fire on government troops as they passed the same place Ethiopians were ambushed two days ago,” witness Ali Diriye said from Yaqbaraweyne.

“Five soldiers were killed on the spot. One pick-up truck escaped with the driver and two of the injured. The other two vehicles were captured by the insurgents.” In Towfiq, locals said the rebels attacked Ethiopian troops supporting Somalia’s fragile interim government.

“I saw an Ethiopian military vehicle burning and three dead bodies that looked like insurgents lying nearby after the fighting stopped,” said one resident, Abey Issa. “Thank goodness, most people in this area had already evacuated.”