PM calls for regional talks over Somali turmoil

Prime Minister Mohamed Roble has invited regional leaders to a fresh round of negotiations in the hope of resolving a protracted feud over Somalia’s elections that sparked violence in the capital. The country is experiencing its worst political crisis in years, with fighting erupting in Mogadishu last week after President Mohamed Abdullahi extended his mandate by two years. A report on the News24 site notes that government spokesperson Mohamed Moalimu said Roble expected ‘the heads of the federal member states to accept his invitation and attend the conference scheduled for 20 May’. The EU's ambassador to Somalia Nicolas Berlanga said demilitarising Mogadishu was ‘the priority for now’.