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UN envoy pledges continued support for Somalia

13 February 2011 02:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United Nations envoy for Somalia on Saturday said that the international community will continue supporting the beleaguered government despite differences over extension of the parliament mandate, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

UN Representative for Somalia Augustine Mahiga who was on a brief visit to Somalia held talks with senior Somali government leaders over recent decision by the Somali parliament to extend its mandate, which ends in August, for three more years.

"We held discussion with his Excellency the President, the Honorable Speaker and the Prime Minister on how to move forward regarding the process of ending the transition," Mahiga told reporters after the meeting with the Somali leaders.

"Certainly the agenda of the extension have been discussed... The good news is that we are finding a convergence of opinion between the international community and the regional actors," he added.

For his part, Somali president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said that he respected the decision by the parliament to extend the term.

The Somali government has previously remained neutral about the parliament’s decision to extend the term while the international community is eager to see the end of the transition as stipulated in the charter.

The Somali government has for the past six years failed to fulfill tasks required by the national charter including the drafting of a new constitution, the conducting of a national census and the carrying out of free and fair election following the completion of the national reconciliation efforts.