SOMALIA: Government relocation to last two to three months

NAIROBI, 19 Jan 2005 (IRIN) - The new transitional federal government (TFG) of Somalia will begin the process of relocation to Somalia within the next two weeks, but the process may take up to three months to complete, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

"The process [of relocation] will start in the first week of February and will tentatively take two to three months to complete", Hussein Jabiri, the prime minister's director of communications, told IRIN.

The new Somali cabinet resolved to start preparations for a return to Somalia during its first formal meeting on 15 January. Three teams composed of cabinet ministers were formed for that purpose, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the prime minister's office.

"Preparations are already underway to implement the decision of the cabinet," Jabiri said. The first team of ministers to leave for the Somali capital, Mogadishu, by early February would "consist of 30 members and will be led by the prime minister", he added.

Smaller groups from the first team were expected to be deployed to other regions in the south and central Somalia. These groups would aim "to establish the TFG's presence there, but also start dialogue with the people", Jabiri told IRIN.

The second group of ministers would be tasked with the "physical relocation of the Members of Parliament and the delegates who participated in the peace process", he added.

The third team, which will remain in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, would "assess the challenges and obstacles" to the relocation process and "prepare the agenda, strategies and an action plan for the installation of the government" inside Somalia.

This team is also tasked with "continuing dialogue with the international donor community representatives", Jabiri said.

The new government, which includes several faction leaders, has not been able to move from Nairobi to Mogadishu, citing security considerations. However, it has come under increasing pressure from the Kenyan government and western diplomats to relocate.

Gedi, a 51-year-old former professor of veterinary science, was initially appointed on 3 November. Commentators said he had not been tainted by the factional bloodshed that ruined Somalia following the toppling of the regime of Muhammad Siyad Barre in 1991.

He is a member of the Abgal sub-clan, of the Hawiye clan, and was a prominent member of the political arm of the United Somali Congress, one of the armed groups that overthrew Barre.

The transitional federal parliament had on 10 October elected Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as president. The election marked the culmination of a two-year reconciliation conference sponsored by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development that brought representatives from various clans and factions together.