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Mogadishu, (insidesomalai.org) Somali Government proposed on Wednesday a new strategy for talks with the opposition and national reconciliation amid fighting between allied Somali government and Ethiopian troops against insurgents is going on in the capital city of Mogadishu and other main cities in the country, said sources close to the government.
Somali Prime Minister , Nur Hassan Hussein speaking on Wednesday a press conference in Mogadishu told reporters that his government is ready to negotiate with any opposition groups to end violence in Mogadishu which goes on since last year.
“Firstly, the new strategy is reduce tensions among Somali clans fighting each other in some of our regions over resources disputes and secondly the government plans to negotiate with any opposition group with out any precondition" said the premier whose forces along with the Ethiopian troops were fighting insurgents who have regrouped themselves after Union of Islamic Courts was ousted from Mogadishu and parts of southern Somalia in 2006.
"The government approves of any location for the negotiation to take place" said Nur Hassan Hussein who has appealed from the UN Special representative for Somalia to mediate the negotiations that his government plans to have with the opposition.
It is not the first time that the Somali Prime Minister calls the opposition for negotiations but the opposition groups rejected his offer repeatedly with the preconditions that Ethiopian troops withdraw from Somalia.
Analysts say that Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and the Prime Minister have different strategies towards opposition groups because the president firmly believes that the government might possibly talk with those moderate figures in the opposition but the premier insists on an inclusive talks involved by any opposition group including those Islamic insurgents fighting in the capital.
"After the appointment of Nur Adde as Prime Minister Things seem to be changing and the president's firm stance became softened" said Mohamed Farah, a senior Somali politician in Mogadishu.
"We shall accept less than that Ethiopian troops pull out from the Somali soil" said a member of ALShabaab group declined his name speaking to InsideSomalia.org
Apart from the higher government official, Security officials allied with Ethiopian officials in Mogadishu seem to be different because for them to talk with insurgents it is the worst option to decide, said government official.
The reaction from the public on the government’s new strategy is cool and people believe that it is just "Words with out deeds" as quoted from Abdi Abdullaahi, a resident in Mogadishu.
Human Rights Watch called for the Security Council and its member states to clearly support efforts to increase human rights monitoring and ensure accountability. In particular, the Security Council should establish an international commission of inquiry.
"The Security Council needs to send a clear message that crimes committed in Somalia will not go unpunished," said Gagnon. "Establishing an international commission of inquiry will send that signal to all the warring parties, including the Ethiopians
At least 700,000 people have been killed and more than one million people were displaced since 2006 when fighting flared up between allied Somali government and Ethiopian troops against Insurgents
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