Somali interim parliament meets

[XXPANTHAXX]

Monday 27 February 2006 9:28 AM GMT

Prime minister Muhammad Ali Gedi (R) met the president

Somalia's interim parliament has held a session inside the anarchic
country for the first time, and Abdullahi Yusuf, the president, urged
deputies to make national security their priority.

Muhammad Ali Gedi, the prime minister, flew into the south-central city
of Baidoa, escorted by heavily-armed militiamen, to join the president
and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, the parliament speaker, for a meeting on
Sunday that many say is the last hope for a divided administration
paralysed for more than a year.

It is the 14th attempt to restore central government to Somalia, whose
last national president was overthrown by militias in 1991, ushering in
an era of anarchy.

It was also the first parliamentary session since a meeting in
neighbouring Kenya last year ended with lawmakers brawling, throwing
chairs and smashing a ballot box.

Hassan said: "Today is a historic day. The government formed in Kenya
has finally met inside the country after some differences."

Yusuf said: "There is need to agree and work on national security, which
is the basis for the country's peace."

Neutral site

The parliament met in Baidoa as it was considered a neutral site by both
factions in the divided government.

But a coterie of powerful Mogadishu regional commanders, including
Mohamed Qanyare, the minister for national security, stayed away.

They lead a faction, fronted by Hassan, that wants the government based
in the lawless capital, Mogadishu, and does not want foreign
peacekeepers in the Horn of Africa country.

Yusuf, Gedi and their allies have based the government in the provincial
town of Jowhar, 90km north of Mogadishu.

They say they cannot move to the capital until thousands of militiamen
are pacified, and they want foreign peacekeepers to help to do the job.

Gedi, whom some MPs have said they wanted to remove, called the meeting
a victory for the government, which has been deeply split and has done
almost nothing since its formation in Kenya in late 2004.

"I think we should ask the Somali people to forgive us for lost time,"
he told the 205 deputies present out of a total of 275.

Differences

Disagreements over the seat of government, peacekeepers and other
political intrigues have left the two sides deeply divided, but
legislators plan to tackle those issues or face further failure, which
many of them say would render the government unable to impose any
authority.

The president proposed that legislators spend at least a week
reconciling.

Yusuf also urged parliament to set rules for their duties and make plans
to tax citizens to fund local governments.

There were no plans for any debate on Sunday after the speeches had
finished and the session closed for the day.

It was due to re-open on Monday, Mohamed Abdi Hayr, the minister for
information, said.

Almost 500 uniformed police officers patrolled the potholed streets
outside the temporary parliament building, a change from the 1000 or so
militiamen who are usually there but have been forced to camp outside
the city during the meeting.

About 15 diplomats from the United Nations, African Union, Arab League,
Italy, Sweden and other countries were present.