Somalia government delays talks with Islamic militia
Somalia’s nearly powerless interim government today said it wanted to postpone this weekend’s peace talks with an increasingly radical Islamic militia that has seized control of nearly all of southern Somalia.
The talks were a move toward international acceptance for the militia, which the US has accused of harbouring al-Qaida and wanting to impose a Taliban-style theocracy throughout Somalia.
“The Islamic group has extreme views which cannot go with the world’s civilised and democratic system,” said Isma’il Mohamud Hurre, minister for regional cooperation from the government base in Baidoa, 155 miles from Mogadishu.
A top official in the Islamic militia said the group wanted the talks to go on as scheduled.
“We have never tried to divide the government members, so I wonder why they are constantly interfering with us,” said Sheikh Mohamud Sheikh Ibrahim Suley.
The talks were set for tomorrow in Khartoum, Sudan, under the auspices of the Arab League. Hurre said Somalia’s president and prime minister had asked Sudanese officials for a delay.
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