Somalia warlords boycott peace talks

Several Somali warlords have said they will not attend next week's reconciliation conference which they say will only further divide the country.

The warlords complain that 70% of the delegates on the conference's Intellectual Advisory Committee come from just one of Somalia's six clans.

They also resent the fact that delegates from civil society far outnumber backers of the faction leaders.

The conference is due to open in Eldoret, Kenya, on 15 October to try to put an end to 12 years of civil war.

'Discrimination'

"There are entire clans and regions which have been discriminated against and totally left out, such as Middle Juba, Gedo, Lower Shabelle, Banadir, Galgudud and parts of Mudug," one of the warlords, Mowlid Ma'ani, of Somalia's Bantu community, said at a joint meeting in Mogadishu on Tuesday.

The faction leaders said the conference was now being led by elements who did not want the conference to succeed, but they did not point the finger at any particular person, group or country.

Mr Mowlid has said until the talks became a Somali conference, where decisions would be taken for and by Somalis, they would not participate.

The conference has been organised by the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

The talks will follow a dozen national conferences aimed at ending the factional conflict in the country, which has lacked a central government since the overthrow of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.