Saturday, December 16, 2006
advertisements
ADEN, Yemen, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamists would resume talks with the country's interim government to avoid an escalation of violence, a leader of the group that controls much of southern Somalia said on Saturday.
"The Council of Islamic Courts is committed to dialogue with the interim federal government as a means to solve disputes," said a communique issued after talks in Yemen between Sheikh Sharif Ahmed of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) and Somali Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan.
Ahmed is seen as a more moderate force in the Islamist movement and parliament speaker Adan, who has tried to negotiate between both sides, has been accused of leaning toward the Islamists.
The United Nations and other international bodies are urging all sides in the Somali conflict to pull back from the brink of war and return to a dialogue about power-sharing.
The communique said the SICC wants an end to "any activities that can lead to military confrontations by any side" and for talks to be held in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
Ahmed told a news conference after three days of talks in Yemen the Islamists would not necessarily attack Ethiopian forces once a deadline it has set for their withdrawal expires.
"Setting a time (deadline) is our right but that does not mean we will attack after that period is over," he said.
But the Mogadishu-based Islamists' senior leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said on Friday that while Islamist fighters would not attack the government they would go after Ethiopian forces if they did not leave the country by Tuesday.
Ethiopia is allied to the interim government and while Addis Ababa says it has about 100 military advisers in Somalia, estimates of the number of Ethiopian troops in that country range into the thousands.
The ultimatum has increased fears of a new war in the conflict-riven nation, mired in anarchy since the ousting of a dictator in 1991.
"The Courts has been calling for peaceful solutions to problems and we still call for that," Ahmed added.
The communique said the Islamists want talks with the African country's neighbours, but did not say if Ethiopia was among the countries they would talk to.
Arch-foes Ethiopia and Eritrea are accused of arming the government and Islamists respectively, so many fear fighting in Somalia could quickly spread into a regional war.
Source: Reuters, Dec 16, 2006