Garowe Online (Garowe)
3 October 2008
The parliament Speaker in Somalia, Sheikh Aden "Madobe" Mohamed, has rejected widespread rumors that an upcoming political conference in the Kenyan capital is intended to establish a new government for the war-torn country.
The Speaker was responding to a report that the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) invited the Somali government in its entirety to Nairobi, including the President, the Prime Minister and the 275-seat parliament.
"It is a recommendation from IGAD, but no official decision has reached us yet," Speaker Madobe said during a Friday interview with the VOA Somali Service.
He stated that the decision to hold a big conference in Nairobi "did not come from the Somali leaders" but came from "some members of IGAD," an East African regional bloc with seven member-states.
Speaker Madobe rejected media speculation that IGAD leaders planned to create a new government for Somalia, which would incorporate elements of the armed resistance who signed the Djibouti Agreement.
He also rejected rumors that IGAD planned to relocate the Somali government back to Nairobi, where it was first established in 2004, due to growing insecurity and targeted assassinations in Somalia.
"There is no such thing as moving out...we will work in the country [Somalia]," Speaker Madobe said.
IGAD sponsored the 2002 to 2004 peace talks in Nairobi, which led to the creation of the current interim government in Somalia.
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