The president of the Transitional National Government (TNG), Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, met a senior member of the Mogadishu-based Somali National Alliance (SNA) on 16 September, a senior TNG official confirmed to IRIN.

"Abdikarim Ahmad Ali, the secretary-general of the SNA, met and held talks with the president on Sunday," Abdirahman Dinari, the TNG director of information, said on Monday. The SNA is a component of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council, which brings together southern factions opposed to the TNG.

According to Dinari, Abdikarim told the president that the SNA was ready to help towards promoting and completing the reconciliation process in Somalia.

Abdikarim was a long-serving aide to the late General Muhammad Farah Aydid, and later went on to perform the same role for his son, Husayn Aydid, who took over from his father as the chairman of the SNA, Somali sources told IRIN. It was unclear whether Abdikarim was still with Husayn Aydid or had broken away from him, the sources said. Dinari said that Abdiqassim and Abdikarim agreed to meet again soon to continue their discussions.