Rivals agree Somalia peace deal
Somalia’s government and the Islamic group that controls the capital have agreed to end military campaigns at peace talks in Sudan.
The talks come two weeks after the Union of Islamic Courts took control of Mogadishu from an alliance of warlords.
The Islamists also agreed to recognise the legality of the interim government – a key demand – and to further talks.
Sudan’s President Omar al-Beshir described the accord as “the beginning of the end of conflicts in Somalia.”
BBC East Africa correspondent Karen Allen says that earlier this week, the two sides refused to sit in the same room.
bbc.co.uk
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Somalis march against Islamists
Thursday’s march was the latest protest since the Islamic courts militia defeated US-backed regional commanders earlier this month.
About 700 protesters, including children from Quranic schools, marched for three hours through the capital’s streets in the central Sinai district in a demonstration organised by the traditional Sufist group, Ahlu Suna Wal-Jammaa.
“We are Muslims and we do not want these fundamentalists who seized Mogadishu,” said Muumina Ali, a demonstrator.
“Sheikh Sharif’s group are fundamentalists,” shouted another protester, referring to Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, chairman of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) which controls Mogadishu and other towns across a swathe of southern Somalia.
The protest comes as Somalia’s interim government and the Islamist movement are holding direct high-level talks in Sudan, mediated by the Arab League and the Sudanese president.