Mogadishu, Somalia – Somalia’s weak transitional government has agreed to attend peace talks with the Islamic militia controlling most of the country’s south, a government spokesman said Tuesday.
The U.N.-backed administration had said it would boycott the talks scheduled for Saturday in Sudan, claiming the militia had killed civilians and was growing increasingly radical.
Spokesman Abdirahman Mohamed Dinari said government leaders reversed their decision because of pressure from the international community. “The talks are the last hope and chance for peace and stability,” he said.
The peace talks are seen as a move toward international recognition for the Islamic militia, which the United States accuses of harboring al-Qaeda and wanting to impose a Taliban-style theocracy.
The Islamic group wrested Mogadishu from a secular alliance of warlords last month, bringing relative calm to a capital in chaos since the last effective central government was overthrown in 1991.
The group has since cracked down on purportedly non-Islamic activities, such as a World Cup screening and a wedding with live music. It also replaced its moderate leader with Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, whom the U.S. has linked to Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization. Aweys denies the allegations.
