SOMALIA: UN ENVOY HAILS TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT MOVES ON POLITICAL INCLUSION

SOMALIA: UN ENVOY HAILS TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT MOVES ON POLITICAL INCLUSION
New York, Oct 5 2007 5:00PM
The senior United Nations envoy to Somalia today hailed a decision by the country's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to endorse the recommendations of the recently concluded National Reconciliation Congress on political inclusion.

UN Special Representative for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah issued a statement in Nairobi saying the move "should pave the way for greater inclusion of Somalis from a larger political spectrum."

Mr. Ould-Abdallah commended this decision as a first step towards national reconciliation and urged the TFG to go further by extending the mandate of the National Governance and Reconciliation Committee as soon as possible.

The statement voiced hope that by allowing the Committee to continue the national reconciliation process, the TFG will prepare the ground for serious talks between Somalis inside and outside the country.

The international community, the envoy said, should "support this helpful move."

Held in Mogadishu during July and August, the National Reconciliation Congress aimed to foster internal coherence in Somalia, which has had no functioning government since Muhammad Siad Barre's regime was toppled in 1991.
2007-10-05 00:00:00.000

___________________

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: http://radio.un.org/

_______________________________

To change your profile or unsubscribe go to:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/