From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Jul 19 2008 - 16:45:46 EDT
ARS Central Committee conference opens in Djibouti
19 Jul 19, 2008 - 1:00:58 PM
DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti July 19 (Garowe Online) - The Central Committee
of the Somali opposition movement - the Alliance for the Re-liberation
of Somalia (ARS) - met on Saturday in the Republic of Djibouti, Radio
Garowe reported.
The meeting in Djibouti City was attended by 160 ARS members, including
Chairman Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Central Committee head Sharif
Hassan Sheikh Aden, according to ARS information secretary Saleban Olad
Robleh.
Several foreign ambassadors attended the opening ceremony as observers,
including the Djibouti-based ambassadors of Saudi Arabia and France.
Sheikh Sharif spoke to conference attendees about a recently concluded
reconciliation process held in Sana'a, Yemen, where Islamic Courts
factions agreed to 'acknowledge' the Djibouti peace accord signed
between the ARS and the Ethiopian-backed Somali transitional government.
[ Full story]
He detailed one of the sticking points at the Yemen reconciliation talks
among Somalia's Islamists, saying that a 13-member special committee
ruled that it is acceptable as long as "most of the UN peacekeepers will
come from Muslim countries."
However, Sheikh Sharif acknowledged that some of the UN peacekeeping
soldiers - who will replace Ethiopian troops deployed across Somalia -
will come from non-Muslim nations.
Also, the ARS Central Committee chairperson, Sharif Hassan, told
attendees that the three-day conference will focus on what successes the
ARS has reached and what challenges remain ahead.
Foreign ambassadors were allowed to briefly address the conference, with
their comments centered on support for the UN-brokered Djibouti peace
accord.
So far, no official among the Eritrea-based ARS faction has publicly
accepted the outcome of the Yemen reconciliation process among Somali
Islamists.
But unconfirmed reports told Radio Garowe that Sheikh Hassan Dahir
Aweys, leader of the Eritrea-based group, has already rejected the Yemen
process on grounds that Somalia does not need any foreign troops.
Source: Garowe Online
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