Arab League
Secretary General Esmat Abdel-Meguid on Tuesday welcomed the
inauguration of Somalia's first parliament in a decade and
lauded the move as a success of the Somali people.
Abdel-Meguid
hailed the organization of the transition parliament as "a
basic pillar for the restoration of a united Somali state,"
saying that the Somali people have "achieved an important
success in the reconciliation process."
He called
on the Somali factions to "work seriously, honestly and interactively
to help Somalia restore its status as an active Arab, regional
and international entity."
The pan-Arab
forum chief paid tribute to the leading role played by Djiboutian
President Ismael Omar Guelleh in hammering out the Somali
peace plan.
The Arab
League is ready to do whatever it can to back Somalia's further
steps in the reconciliation process, and urges the international
community to provide political and economic support to help
Somalia fulfill its goals of reuniting the country, Abdel-
Meguid said. Somalia has been in division since the 1991 fall
of President Siad Barre.
On August
13, the country's first parliament in a decade was inaugurated
in Arta, Djibouti, after 100 days of talks sponsored by Guelleh.
A Somali
central government is expected to come into being by early
September
|
