01/08/07 (B406) Sh.M.NETWORK / Une délégation « à haut niveau » des Nations Unies est arrivée samedi dernier pour participer à la conférence de réconciliation en Somalie / Somalia: UN led delegation attends Somalia peace talks (En Anglais – Info lecteur)

Aweys Osman Yusuf

Mogadishu 28, July.07 ( Sh.M.Network)- A high-level international delegation led by Per Lingrade, UN deputy special envoy for Somalia, arrived in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, on Saturday attending the country’s national reconciliation congress which has been maintaining for 13th day.

AU/AMISOM troops in Somalia capital, Mogadishu, give bullet proof jackets to the delegation before taking them to Aden Adde international airport after the delegation participated in the country’s clan-based reconciliation congress on July 28.

The delegation, making up 5, was well received after landing at Aden Adde international airport around 10: 50 a.m. local time. The African Union troops in Mogadishu escorted the delegation to the scene of the reconciliation conference in north of the capital.

Per Lindgarde (L) UN deputy special envoy for Somalia sits with Ali Mahdi Mohammed, the chairman of Somalia’s reconciliation committee at the venue of the congress in Mogadishu on July 28 after an international delegation led by Mr. Lindgrade arrived in the Somali capital to show their support for the country’s clan-based peace talks.

Our reporter, Muktar Hirabe, at the venue of the peace talks, said that UN deputy envoy for Somalia, Lindgrade, addressed the hundreds of clan elders at the meeting.

« We were intending to participate in the congress on its first day but were delayed after the pilots of the plane that wound fly us to Mogadishu showed concerns over security on the ground, » Lindgrade said, indicating that the international delegation led by him was also presetting their support to Somalia reconciliation conference.

An international delegation, among them Norwegian, Swedish, Italian, Egyptian and Yemen, arrived in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on July 28 to attend the country’s national peace talks in the capital. Security was tight as AU/AMISOM troops stood on guard inside and outside the venue of the congress.

« We will always try to be present at the congress to stay up-to-date with the stages of the congress, » he said.

The Italian envoy who was among the delegation, told the attendees that his government offered $400, 000 (U.S. D) to Somalia reconciliation process.

« Italy also pays a large proportion of financial help to the African Union/AMISOM troops in Somalia, and my government will continue helping Somalia and its reconciliation congress, » he said, praising the African troops for their work in the Horn of African country.