Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
16 August 2007
Mogadishu — Members of Somalia's opposition lawmakers known as the Free Parliament are holding political talks in southern Somalia, according to an official in Lower Jubba province.
Abdulqadir Dhaqane, one of the Free Parliament members, told Shabelle by the phone from Buale, 400 km south of the capital, Mogadishu, that his opposition party was hugely welcomed and baked up in southern regions of the country.
He said he came from Asmara, Eritrea, where the leaders of the Islamic Courts Union and the members of Somalia's sacked lawmakers were based to gain local support in Somalia.
"The opposition groups in Asmara will hold a conference in which we will form a Somali government," he said.
He said people in southern regions had already shown their full back up to the Islamist chiefs and the Free Parliament in Eritrea.
The Somali government has blamed Eritrea several times in the past that it provided the routed Union of Islamic Courts with heavy weaponries including anti-aircraft missiles during their six months of control in the country.
Eritrea denies any involvement in Somalia affairs.
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