Tuesday, June 22, 2010
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Somali government on Tuesday said it is holding secret talks with some senior leaders from the Islamist opposition Hezbul Islam group.The group has been waging deadly insurgency against the Somali government and African Union (AU) peacekeepers based in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.
Some members of the Hezbul Islam leadership such as the former state minister Sheikh Yusuf Siyad Indha Adde, have previously defected to the government ranks.
"The talks with the leaders from Hezbul Islam are in progress and we hope to have tangible results just like we had with others leaders from the group," Abdelrasak Qaylow, spokesman for the Somali Ministry of Information told reporters in Mogadishu.
The spokesman did not say who the members from the group the government was holding talks with were while Hezbul Islam officials have not so far comment on the government statement.
Hezbul Islam group, a small movement compared to the larger more organized Islamist group of Al Shabaab, has recently been witnessing series of defections of its commanders and fighters to Al Shabaab.
Several top commanders and governors of a number of important Hezbul Islam controlled areas have announced their switching of allegiance from Hezbul Islam to Al Shabaab.
Hezbul Islam commanders in the main Beledweyn town in central Somalia on Monday said that they have decided to join Al Shabaab and that the strategic town will come under the control of the radical group of Al Shabaab.
Islamist officials from Al Shabaab have lately been calling for unity between the two groups which have previously fought over the control of the important southern port city of Kismayu.
Source: Xinhua