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June 2, 2008

UN Begins Talks With Somali President, Opposition in Djibouti 
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South African ambassador tells President Abudllahi Yusuf that international community wants to find ways to help Somalia move foward 
The United Nations Security Council is meeting with Somalia's president and exiled opposition leaders with the goal of starting peace talks for the war-ravaged nation.







Abdullahi Yusuf (file  photo)Security Council diplomats met first with Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Monday ahead of discussions with leaders of the opposition Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia (ARS).

South African ambassador Dumisani Kumalo told Mr. Yusuf that the international community wants to find ways to help Somalia move foward.

The president thanked the Security Council for coming to Djibouti, the site of the talks, in search of lasting peace.

Somalia has endured 17 years of chaos and conflict since the fall of the last stable government in 1991.

The opposition alliance, based in Eritrea, supports an Islamist insurgency that has blocked Mr. Yusuf's interim government from asserting control over the country.

On Sunday, insurgents fired mortars at Mr. Yusuf's plane as he prepared to leave the Mogadishu airport. The president was unharmed in the attack.





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