IGAD delegates praise Sudan, raise concerns over Somalia

KAMPALA, Oct. 24, 2003 (IRIN) — The annual Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) conference, involving six heads of state from East Africa, opened on Friday with universal praise for Sudan’s new peace efforts, and hopes expressed that Somalia will soon follow suite.

Heads of state from Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Mozambique (representing the African Union) arrived in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, for the conference chaired this year by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Also present was the UN special adviser to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Mohamed Sahnoun, who, after praising Sudan for its “encouraging progress”, warned that the UN Security Council had “expressed its concern about the persistent cycle of violence in Somalia and the continued flow of weapons and ammunition supplies”.