Somalian Lawmakers to Talk With Rebels
By
MOHAMED
SHEIKH
NOR
Associated
Press
Writer
Nov
5,
6:40
AM
EST
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
(AP)
--
Against
the
wishes
of
the
fractured
government,
Somalia's
most
powerful
lawmaker
and
25
other
members
of
parliament
arrived
in
the
capital
Sunday
to
hold
talks
with
Islamic
militants
who
control
much
of
the
chaotic
nation.
The
visit,
led
by
Parliament
Speaker
Sharif
Hassan
Sheik
Aden,
exposes
a
deep
rift
within
an
administration
that
has
watched
helplessly
as
the
Council
of
Islamic
Courts
has
taken
over
much
of
the
country,
including
Mogadishu.
"I
come
here
for
peace,
and I
decided
to do
my
best
to
help
Somalis
come
together,"
Aden
said
in a
brief
news
conference
with
Islamic
leader
Sheik
Hassan
Dahir
Aweys.
Aden
is
considered
the
Somali
government's
most
sympathetic
leader
to
the
Islamic
courts,
which
the
United
States
accuses
of
having
ties
to
al-Qaida.
His
decision
to
hold
the
talks
is a
direct
challenge
to
the
authority
of
the
president
and
prime
minister
and
could
lead
to
the
collapse
of
the
U.N.-backed
interim
government.
The
trip
comes
days
after
peace
talks
with
the
Islamists
collapsed
in
Khartoum,
Sudan.
On
Saturday,
the
transitional
government
urged
Aden
"not
to go
to
Mogadishu
before
he
consults
with
the
government
delegation
to
the
Khartoum
talks."
"All
we
want
is to
form
a
unified
position,"
the
government
said
in a
statement.
Somalia
has
not
had
an
effective
government
since
1991,
when
warlords
overthrew
a
dictator
and
then
turned
on
one
another.
Experts
warn
that
Somalia
could
become
a
proxy
battleground
for
neighboring
Eritrea
and
Ethiopia,
which
split
in a
1961-91
civil
war
and
fought
a
1998-2000
border
war.
Eritrea
supports
the
Islamic
militia,
while
Ethiopia
backs
the
interim
government.
A
confidential
U.N.
report
obtained
by
The
Associated
Press
last
week
said
6,000-8,000
Ethiopian
troops
were
in
Somalia
or
along
the
border.
It
also
said
2,000
soldiers
from
Eritrea
were
inside
Somalia.
Eritrea
denies
having
any
troops
there,
