Ahmed and Bashir discuss Somali reconciliation

April 28, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed held talks with his Sudanese counterpart on the later efforts to persuade the opposition to join his government and Khartoum support to his country.

Ahmed arrived to Khartoum from Brussels where he had participated in an International donor’s conference to support the African peacekeepers there and to establish the Somali security forces.

The two presidents discussed on Monday what had been done to rally Islamist opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys who was in Sudan for more than a week early this month.

Aweys who was based in Eritrea returned to Mogadishu, for the first time in two years last Thursday.

Sharif also discussed Sudanese pledge to train Somali police officers and to contribute to the reconstruction of infrastructure of the ruined and lawless Horn of Africa country.

The funds pledged by the international donors are more than what has been requested. The European Commission, the single largest donor at the conference, pledged $94 million, almost half of the total funds.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon stressed the importance of international support for the new Somali government led by President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. “We must push open this window of opportunity,” he told the conference. ” The risks of not supporting the new government are too high; costs of failure are too enormous.”

The conference, convened under the auspices of the United Nations and the African Union, drew together representatives from some 60 countries as well as international bodies such as the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference.

(ST)