The speaker of parliament in Somalia's interim government will meet the country's Islamists at their Mogadishu stronghold to try to rescue peace talks that collapsed last week, both sides said on Saturday, Reuters reported. Tension has grown in recent weeks and both sides appeared to be preparing for war after failing to meet face-to-face at the third round of Arab League-sponsored talks in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan would be the most senior government member to visit the teeming capital since it was seized by the Islamists from U.S.-backed warlords in June. The government is confined to the provincial town of Baidoa. "The speaker will meet the Islamists tomorrow in a bid to continue the stalled talks," said Somali MP Asha Abdallah. Members of the interim government met later in Baidoa and urged Adan to consult them there first. Adan was in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Saturday. "The cabinet requests the speaker and lawmakers expected to accompany him to Mogadishu...to come (to Baidoa) in order for the government to take a joint position in order to reach a long-lasting solution," they said in a statement.
