Senior Somali Diplomat Says Peace Process Still on Track

A senior Somali official on Saturday denied that the peace process between the Somali Transitional Government and the opposition that was signed in Djibouti in June, has derailed, insisting that the Djibouti agreement for national reconciliation reached is still on track.

Abdallah Hassan Mahmoud, the Somali ambassador to Egypt and its permanent delegate to the Arab League, said Saturday that the Djibouti agreement was on track since there were no obstacles preventing its implementation.

He indicated that Saudi Arabia will host a meeting which will include all Somali parties to agree on a mechanism to implement the agreement.

The ambassador stressed that the Somali government had been always interested in having Arab forces to be the core of any international forces deployed in Somalia but that the Arab states did not respond to such a request.

He said the international forces had to first restore security and stability to Somalia so that the Somali national troops could then replace them.

A delegation from the Somali Islamic Courts Union headed by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed also on Wednesday told the Arab League officials that Arab forces should be the core of any international forces to be deployed in Somalia or any other forces to replace the Ethiopian troop presently in the country.

Source African Press Agency

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