SUDAN: Islamists and the transitional Somalia government agree to end hostilities and work towards peace

Record ID: 349841

  • Title: SUDAN: Islamists and the transitional Somalia government agree to end hostilities and work towards peace
  • Date: 23rd June 2006
  • Summary: WIDE OF SUDANESE PRESIDENT OMAR AL BASHIR AND ARAB LEAGUE SECRETARY-GENERAL, AMR MOUSSA, AND PRESIDENT OF TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT OF SOMALIA, ABDALLAH YUSUF AT PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRESIDENT OF SUDAN, OMAR HASSAN AL BASHIR, SAYING: "Your agreement, Mr. President and brothers in Islamic Courts Union, is giving hope to our people and friends in Somalia." DEL
  • Embargoed: 8th July 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sudan
  • Country: Sudan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6WPHIAUXMMUW3KVXRQU01VWYC
  • Story Text: The interim government of Somalia and the Islamic Courts movement which controls the capital Mogadishu agreed on Thursday (June 22) to stop military campaigns, recognise each other and meet again on July 15.
    The signing ceremony in Khartoum was attended by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Somali interim President Abdullahi Yusuf and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa
    After their first direct high-level talks, held under Arab League sponsorship in Sudan's capital Khartoum, the government and the Islamists signed a document meant to avert a confrontation that could extend years of conflict in Somalia.
    It included a mutual commitment to suspend propaganda and military campaigns and continue talks without preconditions.
    The interim government, which has little power and is based in the southern provincial town of Baidoa, recognised "the reality" of the Islamist movement, which in turn recognised "the legality" of the government.
    The Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which drove warlords out of Mogadishu on June 5 and has since advanced into the hinterland, has not been directly at war with the government. But the government said this week that it was expecting the Islamists to attack its Baidoa headquarters.
    The government has infuriated the Islamists by calling for international peacekeepers and saying Muslim fundamentalists from around the world helped them secure Mogadishu. The issues of peacekeepers and power sharing would be discussed at the next round of talks in Khartoum.
    The United States welcomed the talks and said that, if true, the sides' mutual recognition would also be a positive step.

    TREATIES AND AGREEMENTS PEACE TALKS PEACE TREATIES
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