Somali govt orders delegation to quit Nairobi peace talks

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- The Somali Transitional National Government (TNG) announced Sunday night that it was withdrawing its delegates from the ongoing peace talks in Nairobi for consultations.
The decision was taken at an extraordinary cabinet meeting in Mogadishu that was chaired by acting Prime Minister Dr Mohamud Farah Indabur.
Indabur said the planned consultations would also be open to pro- government factions and regional autonomies.
The date for the meeting is still to be fixed.
Since the venue of the peace talks between Somali warring factions shifted from the Kenyan western town of Eldoret last month to Mbagathi in Nairobi, TNG delegates have refused to attend the third phase of the talks.
They alleged that mediators from frontline countries of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), including Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, were biased against the TNG.
The Somali government is demanding that IGAD, under whose auspices the talks are being held, exclude Ethiopia from the frontline delegation to the peace talks, alleging it was siding with Somali opposition groups.
The TNG also is also pushing for the participation of the breakaway Republic of Somaliland in the reconciliation conference.
Notwithstanding the government's directives, observers said TNG delegates might ignore the order to pull out of the Nairobi talks.
Last week a group of TNG ministers and MPs led by Trade Minister Abdurahman Mohamud Dinari indicated they were opposed to any boycott calls.