MOGADISHU (SD) – UN has called on Somali political stakeholders to resume talks on the implementation of September 17 agreement on electoral process barely two weeks after Somali lower house extended the mandate of the president following the collapse of FGS-FMS talks in Mogadishu early this month.

During an off-the-record conversation known as an informal interactive dialogue (IID) on Tuesday, Norway which is one of the members of the UN Security Council emphasized that the only viable option for Somalia is a resumption of dialogue based on the September 17 agreement.

An IID is an informal private meeting of Security Council members convened to hold situation-specific, off-the-record conversations with non-Council member states.

The dialogue is presided over by the Council President, in this case, Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, the Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to the UN.  Records are not kept during informal interactive dialogues, and they are not open to the public or broadcast.

The ambassador also reiterated Vietnam’s support for the mediating role of the UN and regional organisations, especially the African Union and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, in dealing with political problems in Somalia.

Vietnam backs the Somali people’s efforts for peace, stability and development, he said, calling on the international community to assist these efforts on the basis of respecting international law and the independence and sovereignty of Somalia.

On his part, T. S. Tirumurti, India’s Ambassador to the UN, said that he also called on the federal government and regional member states to resume dialogue based on the September 17 agreement and the recommendations from the Baidoa Technical Committee. Tirumurti also welcomed the leadership role of the African Union and IGAD