Somali rivals agree to recognize each other
June 22, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The interim government of Somalia and the Islamic Courts movement which took control of the capital Mogadishu this month recognized each other on Thursday after their first direct high-level talks in Sudan.
In a written agreement signed by the two sides, they also agreed to further talks in Khartoum on July 15, officials said.
Somali Foreign Minister Abdullahi Sheekh Ismail and the head of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) delegation, Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, embraced each other after the signing.
Delegations from the two sides met on Thursday under Arab League auspices in the Sudanese capital after mediators held separate meetings with them in the morning in an attempt to avert a confrontation which could extend years of conflict.
Sudan had invited the two delegations to Khartoum and called an Arab League meeting to prevent a new war in Somalia, which has not had a strong central government for the past 15 years.
In the written document the interim government recognized “the reality” of the ICU, which in return recognized “the legality” of the government. Both sides agreed to stop all military and propaganda campaigns, it added.
Tensions rose between the government and the Islamists after the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) seized Mogadishu on June 5 and then advanced to seize a strategic swathe of southern Somalia.
The government has infuriated the Islamists by calling for international peacekeepers and saying Muslim fundamentalists from around the world helped them secure Mogadishu.
The two delegations met in a conference center on the banks of the Blue Nile, along with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol.
ICU chairman Sheikh Sharif Ahmed did not come in person but sent a 10-man delegation led by Ibrahim.
The government had kept its distance from the Islamists and on Wednesday a spokesman had said direct talks would have to take place at a later date and inside Somalia.
(Reuters)