allAfrica.com: Somalia: Conference Disrupted After Ethiopia Ambassador Arrives (Page 1 of 1)
A conference attended by interim Somali Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein and opposition chief Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was postponed Wednesday after Ethiopia's ambassador to Djibouti entered the talks venue, Radio Garowe reported.
Shamsudin Roble, the Ethiopian ambassador, attended the talks on behalf of the Ethiopian government's membership in the International Contact Group (ICG) for Somalia.
But his arrival prompted opposition delegation from the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) to walk out of the conference hall in protest.
UN Special Envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, as well as Prime Minister Nur Adde and Italy's ambassador to Djibouti, took part in efforts to convince the ARS delegates to return to the conference.
By day's end, the opposition delegates agreed to return to the conference hall and met privately with government officials, sources said.
The delegations from the Somali government and the ARS - which inked a peace pact on June 9 - are supposed to discuss implementation of a ceasefire clause in the Djibouti Agreement.
In August, a Joint Security Committee and a Joint Political Committee were established to oversee the realization of tenets in the Djibouti Agreement, which called for the withdrawal of Ethiopian armed forces within 120 days.
But the Agreement has faced strong resistance from an ARS faction led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, as well as al Shabaab insurgents who are considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
A conference attended by interim Somali Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein and opposition chief Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was postponed Wednesday after Ethiopia's ambassador to Djibouti entered the talks venue, Radio Garowe reported.
Shamsudin Roble, the Ethiopian ambassador, attended the talks on behalf of the Ethiopian government's membership in the International Contact Group (ICG) for Somalia.
But his arrival prompted opposition delegation from the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) to walk out of the conference hall in protest.
UN Special Envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, as well as Prime Minister Nur Adde and Italy's ambassador to Djibouti, took part in efforts to convince the ARS delegates to return to the conference.
By day's end, the opposition delegates agreed to return to the conference hall and met privately with government officials, sources said.
The delegations from the Somali government and the ARS - which inked a peace pact on June 9 - are supposed to discuss implementation of a ceasefire clause in the Djibouti Agreement.
In August, a Joint Security Committee and a Joint Political Committee were established to oversee the realization of tenets in the Djibouti Agreement, which called for the withdrawal of Ethiopian armed forces within 120 days.
But the Agreement has faced strong resistance from an ARS faction led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, as well as al Shabaab insurgents who are considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
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