The South West reconciliation summit between regional state officials and opposition lawmakers is set to commence on Monday in Baidoa, South West state’s interim administrative capital.
Senior Federal Government officials, including President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Lower House Speaker Sheikh Adan Madobe, and other top officials, are anticipated to attend the meeting.
On Sunday, a team led by the Director General of Somalia’s Presidency, Hussein Sheikh Mohamud, was greeted in Baidoa by the Director of the South West state’s Presidency, Abdifatah Mahad Abdirahman, for a meeting and reception for President Mohamud.
According to federal government sources, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will not attend the Baidoa peace summit.
The delegates attending the meeting have lately arrived in Baidoa, and African Union troops as well as regional state and federal security agencies have increased security in the city.
The opposition organizations expressed their appreciation for the federal Lower House Speaker’s attendance in the reconciliation meeting, which was originally scheduled for January 5 but was postponed for unclear reasons.
The meeting comes just weeks after an armed standoff between the two sides in Baidoa claimed the lives of more than ten people.
The gunfight erupted at the home of former federal finance minister Mohamed Adan Ibrahim Fargeti, where an opposition-aligned militia had gathered.