Calls for patriotism as MPs meet in Baidoa

Somalia's interim President, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, has opened the first-ever session of parliament to be held inside the war-ravaged Horn of Africa country with a passionate appeal for patriotism. "If we have any measure of patriotism, it is shameful enough for us to witness an era of Somalia's decline which is not brought about by foreign assailants but by our collective indiscretion," Yusuf said. "Each one of us should choose between serving our citizens or go down in history as the leaders who failed to lead their people and promoted hostilities," he told the legislators. "This is an opportunity we should seize to govern the people and the country." Some 205 of the 275 members of the Somali transitional parliament (MPs) are attending the session, which started on Sunday in Baidoa town, 240 km southwest of the capital, Mogadishu. However, prominent Mogadishu-based faction leaders where absent, including Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aydid, commerce minister Muse Sudi Yalahow, national security minister Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, public works minister Usman Ali Ato and reconstruction and resettlement minister Bare Hirale, who is based in Kismayo. "They were delayed, but we expect them to be here before the week is over," Isak Mohamed Nur, who is also the local MP for Baidoa, told IRIN on Monday. Other sources said the powerful Mogadishu faction skipped the session due to tension in the city following heavy fighting last week between the Islamic courts and militias loyal to the faction leaders. Baidoa was chosen to host the meeting because it was seen as a compromise venue, where the various Somali factions could meet. Yusuf, along with Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi and their allies are based in Jowhar, 90 km north of Mogadishu, while the speaker of parliament, Sharif Hassan Shaykh Adan, and other MPs are based in the capital. Speaking during Sunday's opening session, the speaker echoed the president's sentiments and called upon fellow parliamentarians to work towards ending hostilities and promoting understanding and development. "I urge my fellow brothers and sisters to end hostilities and eradicate doubts that exist between them," Adan said. "The country and its people need you to salvage them from suffering. Our children lack better healthcare and education and it is we leaders who can turn things around." Gedi urged the MPs to commit themselves to promoting harmony. "This is an opportunity to kick-start the stalled transitional federal government's activities. We fought each other for long, we should forgive each other," he said. The UN special representative for Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, said: "You have a choice that should be easy to make; either to allow anarchy and chaos to prevail in your country or to lead the Somali people towards reconciliation and reconstruction, peace and prosperity."