Rival Somali leaders who early this year signed a pact to end disputes between them over the location of the transitional federal government are in Kenya for a key meeting aimed at furthering reconciliation.

President Abdullahi Yusuf arrived in Nairobi on Sunday and is expected to meet with Parliament Speaker Sheriff Hassan Adan, the first meeting since the signing of the first concrete political cease-fire reached after relocating nearly a year ago, said Hussein Haji Jabiri, communications director at the Prime Minister 's Office.

Jabiri said the United Nations-organized meeting is a follow to the pact which was inked by the two leaders in Yemen where the two leaders agreed to end their differences which hampered the functions of the interim institutions.

"The meeting is organized by the United Nations Office for Somalia and is a follow up to the 'Aden Declaration' signed in Jan. 5 in Yemen," said Jabiri.

He said President Yusuf will be in Nairobi for a few days before he travels to Khartoum, Sudan on Jan. 18 for African Union Summit to be held between Jan. 22-23.

The president and the speaker, who belong to two rival factions, inked the "Aden Declaration" in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, a move which has received backing from the international community.

According to the declaration signed in Yemen which brokered the truce, the two leaders agreed to "leave behind all the past differences that hampered the function of interim institutions" and "act together to build the nation."

"Both leaders have reached an agreement to start a new page and end their differences which have brought serious damage to the duties of the institutions and the spirit of the Somali people," said the declaration.

Under the agreement, the two leaders agreed that the interim parliament should convene within 30 days in "any location inside the homeland".

The two sides also called on "all Somali factions to put down arms and use dialogue instead."

But the document did not mention any settlement for the dispute between the president and the speaker over the relocation of the transitional government.

Somali leaders have been involved in endless feuding over the seat of power and where the interim authority should be located and the dispute had failed to get an amicable resolution despite high-profile attempts by UN secretary-general's envoy to Somalia.

Yusuf has been insisting that the government that was set up in Kenya in late 2004 should still be based in provincial town of Jowhar, about 90 km northwest of Mogadishu, while the parliament speaker wants it to be moved to Mogadishu.

It is unclear where the parliament will meet. The parliament includes representatives of the main clans and militia groups and last met in Kenya a year ago.

The five-part Aden agreement also calls for respect for the constitution. The agreement is seen as the first major step for the feuding Somali factions to restore unity and end the dark shadows that has paralyzed the numerous attempts to restore government in Somalia since 1991 when it descended into anarchy.

Source: Xinhua