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| Somalia's Foreign Minister Ismail Mahmoud Hurre listens during a meeting at the Arab League in Cairo April 3, 2007. - REUTERS/Nasser Nuri (EGYPT) |
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
The talks, which are expected to last one day, are being held in the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo, according to Alaa Rushdy, a spokesman for the pan-Arab group.
The talks are part of efforts by the International Contact Group on Somalia to try and get the warring parties there to end the fighting.
Mogadishu, the Somali capital, remained calm for a second day Tuesday after the city's worst bout of violence in 15 years left some 400 people dead.
"The most important issue on the table is the security in the country," Somali Foreign Minister Ismael Hurreh told The Associated Press.
Raymond Johansen, Norway's deputy foreign minister, said the Cairo talks will try and negotiate an immediate cease-fire followed by the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops and allowing African peacekeepers to take charge of security in the country.
The council's militants were driven from power in December by Somali and Ethiopian soldiers, accompanied by U.S. special forces.
The U.S. has accused the courts of having ties to al-Qaeda.
The militants have long rejected any secular government and have sworn to fight until Somalia becomes an Islamic emirate.
Somalia, a member of the Arab League, has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned against each other. A national government was established in 2004, but has failed to assert any real control.
"The Council of Islamic Courts is made up of various groups, some of which are on lists of terrorists and will not be part of this dialogue," Johansen said. "There are others who are moderates and will be allowed take part."
Source: AP, April 03, 2007