http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2006\ 080614030000&Take=1 <http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=200\ 6080614030000&Take=1>
6 Aug 2006 14:03 GMT DJ Somali Leaders Reach Consensus On Dealing With Islamists Copyright © 2006, Dow Jones Newswires MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP)--Somalia's three top leaders have resolved their differences over how the transitional government should respond to the rise of Islamic militants, who now control most of the country's south, officials said Sunday. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin mediated between the leaders of Somalia's weak, U.N.-backed transitional government after a rift led 40 Cabinet and junior ministers resign since July 27. No details of what the leaders agreed were to be announced before an official presentation to parliament Monday, said Aadan Husein Abdi Risaaq, the director of the presidency. However, the main points of the agreement are that Gedi will appoint within seven days a new Cabinet of 31 members, 31 deputy ministers and 12 state ministers and parliament won't debate a no-confidence vote for six months, an official said. Early Sunday, Seyoum left Baidoa, 240 kilometers northwest of the capital, Mogadishu. He arrived Saturday. He is the first Ethiopian official to visit Somalia in many years. Ethiopia and Somalia view each other as enemies, have fought a war in 1977 to 1978, but Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf is a longtime ally of Ethiopia. Yusuf and his Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi had disagreed on how to deal with the rise of Islamic courts. Yusuf has the support of parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden. "The leaders hugged, kissed and shook hands with the Ethiopian diplomats for their role in solving the problems among the country's top leaders," said Siyaad Ali, an aide of Gedi. Mohamed Sheikh of Aden's office confirmed the three leaders had reached an agreement. On July 30, Gedi survived a no-confidence motion because only 126 lawmakers supported it - 13 short of the number required for the motion to pass. Only 88 lawmakers voted to keep Gedi. Last week, Yusuf said he wanted a government delegation to go to Khartoum, Sudan on Aug. 1 for Arab League-sponsored talks with the Islamists. But Gedi said that the talks have been postponed to Aug. 17. The ministers leaving Gedi's government have all cited his lukewarm support for Arab League-sponsored talks as their reason for resigning. Somalia's transitional government was formed two years ago with the support of the U.N. to help the Horn of Africa country emerge from 16 years of anarchy and violence. The government has a five-year term. Yusuf and Gedi, however, have been unable to assert their authority beyond Baidoa. Somalia hasn't had an effective central government since warlords toppled longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned against each other, plunging the country into anarchy. As Islamic militants seized the capital and much of southern Somalia in recent months, the transitional government could only watch helplessly. The Islamists have been imposing strict religious courts, raising fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime. The U.S. accuses the group of harboring al-Qaida leaders responsible for deadly bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. (END) Dow Jones Newswires August 06, 2006 10:03 ET (14:03 GMT) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
