Islamic group in talks with Ethiopian official

Officials of Somalia’s Islamic courts held informal talks with an Ethiopian minister in neighbouring Djibouti during which they said that the group would only hold talks with Ethiopia once it withdraws its troops from Somalia, the group’s foreign affairs chief said today.

The head of the Islamic courts’ executive body, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, led the delegation that met over the weekend with Ethiopia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Tekeda Alemu, said Ibrahim Hassan Adow, the Islamic courts’ foreign affairs chief.

Regional diplomats participated via telephone conference, Ethiopia’s foreign affairs ministry said on its website.

The “Islamic courts want a stable region and have good relations with our neighbours, but we cannot hold talks with Ethiopia unless it withdraws its forces inside the country.

"This is the main difference between us,” Adow said.