(Somalia, Politics, 7/30/2003 )
Arab News

News reports in Kenya said that the delegation of the Somali provisional government withdrew from the peace conference, held in Nairobi under the pretext that the conference got out of track and the persistence of Somali groups on what the delegation called to Balkanize (fracture it) the country and deprive it of its Arabic and Islamic identity.

However, observers consider this development as an indication of the collapse of the ceasefire in the country which was ratified by the Somali groups in October 2002 in Dourit, Kenya.

The Somali President Abdi Qasem Salad Hassan held Ethiopia the main responsibility for the collapse of the negotiations. Salad Hassan's government was elected in a peace conference on Somalia held in Arta, Djibouti.

But the Somali factions refused to recognize this government which failed in imposing its control on most of the suburbs of the capital Makadishu. The opposition groups formed what is called "the Somali reconciliation council" which takes Ethiopia as headquarters.

Worthy mentioning that Somalia lacks the existence of a strong central government since 1991 when the regime of Seyad Berri was toppled.