Monday, October 30, 2006
A planned third round of negotiations, to be mediated by the Arab League and Kenya, had been due to begin at 11:00am (08H00GMT) but the government's delegation had not yet arrived in Khartoum by that time, officials said.
"The conference will be delayed because of internal disputes among the transitional federal government," said one Arab League official, adding that the delegation was expected later in the Sudanese capital.
"After they arrive, the conference will start in the afternoon," the official said on condition of anonymity at the talks' venue.
Other officials in Khartoum said the government delegation was delayed in leaving the administration's seat in the Somali town of Baidoa due to differences between the two men appointed to lead it.
Government officials in Baidoa could not immediately be reached for comment.
The apparent rift deals a new blow to prospects for the talks, which had already been jeopardised by the Islamists' stated refusal to meet face-to-face with the government until Ethiopian troops allegedly in Somalia have withdrawn.
The Islamists have also rejected the mediation of Kenya, accusing the country, which chairs a regional east African bloc planning to send peacekeepers to Somalia, of bias toward the government.
The Islamists have declared holy war against Ethiopian soldiers said to be in Somalia and have accused Kenya of bias as it supports the government's call for peacekeepers, also backed by Ethiopia.
Mainly Christian Ethiopia denies reports it has as many as 8 000 soldiers in Somalia but acknowledges sending military advisers to help protect the government from "jihadists" some of whom are accused of links with al-Qaeda.
Soaring tensions between the government and the Islamists, who seized Mogadishu in June and now control almost all of southern and central Somalia, have raised fears of a full-scale war in the chaotic country.
They have also led to concerns the situation may explode into a regional conflict engulfing the Horn of Africa, particularly as Ethiopia and arch-foe Eritrea are feared to be using Somalia as a proxy battleground.
Somalia has been without a functioning central administration since 1991 and the government, created two years ago, has been wracked by infighting and its inability to assert control over much of the country.
Source: AFP, Oct. 30, 2006