The United Nations Special Representative for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said Wednesday he was very pleased that the two main committees in the Djibouti Agreement are being convened this weekend.
A statement from the Nairobi-based UN Political Office for Somalia said after consultations with the transitional government and the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), it was agreed that the Joint Security Committee and the High Level Committee will meet in Djibouti from Aug.16-18.
The statement said the two sides will have delegations attending each meeting. Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein as well as the leaders of the ARS, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan plan to attend.
The international community, including diplomats from several countries and regional organizations, including France (Chair of the European Union), the United States, Britain, the African Union, the League of Arab States, European Union, European Commission, Organization of Islamic Conference, IGAD and UNDP, will be present. Representatives from civil society have also been invited.
Ould-Abdallah called on the Somali parliament to suspend its work on certain political issues from Aug. 15-20 to facilitate the participation of its members in the meetings of the two committees.
"I would like the parliamentarians to show their full support for the peace process and for the plight of the Somali population," said Ould-Abdallah.
Somalia's interim government and some opposition figures signed a peace deal on June 9 in Djibouti this year that called for the rapid deployment of a robust U.N. stabilization force in the Horn of Africa nation.
But the opposition hardliners in exile and insurgents inside Somalia had dismissed the U.N.-led talks in Djibouti so it was unclear what effect it might have on the ground.
The main opposition demand has been that Ethiopian soldiers helping the government fight rebels quit Somali soil.
The violence in Somalia has triggered a humanitarian crisis that aid workers say may be the worst in Africa, with at least a million refugees in a nation torn by constant civil conflict since the 1991 toppling of a military ruler by warlords.
Source: Xinhua
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