Yemen Will Facilitate Somali Peace Talks
YemenOnline- July 02, 2008- Somalia has been in the throws of unrest since the turn of the millennium. The main conflict is a power struggle between the Islamists and the Ethiopian backed Transitional Federal Government. The numerous different factions have tried repeatedly to meet around a single table with a single agenda, however inevitably a few groups always boycott peace talks. In 2006, the UN held Peace talks in Djibouti which was boycotted by the Islamists, and therefore proved very ineffective. Yemen and Somalia have close ties, in many ways. Yemen is home to tens of thousands of Somali refugees. Somalis and their descendants have even formed a social-ethnic stratus in Yemeni society, as dire as their straits may be. Life for a Somali in Yemen can be one of extreme racism and disparity. If is partly for that reason that Yemen has an interest in a peaceful Somalia. Leaders of both the Islamists and the Government plan to meet in Sana'a within the year.
|
