Somalia’s prime minister has invited regional leaders to a new round of negotiations to try and resolve a protracted feud over elections that sparked violence in the capital.
A government spokesman said Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble had invited the leaders of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous states to roundtable talks later this month.
The president, better known by his nickname Farmajo, on Sunday tasked his prime minister with reaching out to rivals and overseeing the negotiations, a key opposition demand.
Somalia is experiencing its worst political crisis in years, with fighting erupting in Mogadishu last week after the president extended his mandate by two years without going to elections.
Opposition fighters remain in the capital even after President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed backed away from the mandate extension at the weekend and agreed to hold a fresh vote.
Presidential spokesman, Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu, told reporters the prime minister is committed to having everything resolved peacefully and to prepare for the upcoming national reconciliation conference
Some fighters in opposition strongholds have refused to leave Mogadishu following the clashes that forced tens of thousands of civilians from their homes.
Farmajo struck a deal with the states in September that paved the way for indirect elections before the government’s term expired in February.
That agreement collapsed as Farmajo and the leaders of two states, Puntland and Jubaland, squabbled over the terms.
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