Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
7 August 2007
Mogadishu — A UN led delegation arrived in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Tuesday amid violence and explosions. The Ugandan/AMISOM troops in the capital stood on firm guard escorting the delegation to the top-hill presidential compound where they met President Abdulahi Yusuf and prime minister, Ali Gedi.
UN special envoy for Somalia, Francois Fall, (C) walks with Somali officials inside Aden Adde international airport in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, on August 7, 2007.
Fall attended the country's reconciliation conference in north of the capital.
Francois Fall, UN special envoy for Somalia, leading the delegation from Sweden, Norway and Denmark, attended the war-ravaged country's national reconciliation congress taking place in northern part of the city.
Addressing hundreds of Somalia's clan elders inside the venue of the reconciliation process, Mr. Fall encouraged and asked members of the reconciliation committee to reach out to stakeholders in and out of the country to attend the congress. "We, once again, request Chairman Ali Mahdi to convince the stakeholders in Mogadishu and those in abroad who reject the violence to participate in the ongoing reconciliation conference," he said.
He made clear the NU's standpoint and backing to the congress. However, he did not announce the expected UN financial support to Somalia's conference.
Francois Fall, UN special envoy for Somalia, waves his right hand as he (l) along with chairman Ali Mahdi Mohammed exits from the venue of Somalia's reconciliation conference in north of the capital, August 7, 2007.
He encouraged elders in the assembly to show responsibility in order to reach lasting peaceful solution. The committee chairman, Ali Mahdi, presented Mr. Fall a copy of comments of the first phase of the conference. Mahdi told Fall that the conference has entered its subsequent phase.
Francois Fall, UN special envoy for Somalia, ( l) sits next to Ali Mahdi, the chairman of the reconciliation committee, inside the venue of Somalia's reconciliation conference on August 7, 2007.
Resolving conflicts among clans was the first episode that was debated in the conference for nearly a month, while the terrorism subject was hardest one which sparked deadlock among the elders.
A Somali official shakes a hand with UN special envoy for Somalia, Francois Fall, (C) at Aden Adde international airport in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, on August 7, 2007. Fall attended the country's reconciliation conference in north of the capital.
Fall arrived in Mogadishu at 10: 10 A.M. local time when roadside bomb explosion targeted a government vehicle, killing two civilians and wounding three people, two soldiers and a pedestrian.
"We do not yet know what sparked the blast, but the delegation made their way to the president's house where they will meet president Abdulahi," said our reporter, Ismail Tahte who was at the airport at the time.
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