Somali reconciliation conference adjourned to mid-May

The Arab League (AL) Wednesday announced that a national reconciliation conference on Somalia, originally planned in Somali capital Mogadishu later this month, has been postponed to May 15, Egypt's MENA news agency reported.

According to MENA, AL Arab-African cooperation department director Samir Hosni announced the postponement in a press statement but he didn't disclose the reason for the decision.

Hosni said the proposed conference, called by Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, was aimed to push for reconciliation among Somali warring parties and end the Somali crisis.

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former ruler Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.

The transitional government, formed in 2004 with UN help, has little authority across the country because it has no real army or police force.

Source: Xinhua