African leaders, members of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have relaxed pressure piled against Somalia's interim government following the election of a new President, Sharif Ahmed Sharif.
African leaders meeting in October at the height of former Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf's political tussle with immediate former Prime Minister Hussein Hassan asked the interim government to implement widespread political reform agenda for Somalia.
The African leaders, meeting during IGAD Heads of State Assembly, said Somalia's interim government had to implement a raft of political reforms, including drafting a new constitution and a political party's law.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who chairs the seven-member IGAD Assembly, said late on Friday the regional leaders had abandoned the hardline stance against the Somali government because the "conflict had been resolved through other means."
President Yusuf was forced to quit under pressure when the IGAD ministers sugges ted to the African Union Peace and Security Council to draw up a list of personal sanctions against him and his political allies of attempting to obstruct peace efforts in Somalia.
The PSC went ahead to authorise AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping to set up a committee to identify Yusuf's property, freeze them and apply personal sanctions.
"The IGAD plan has been effectively implemented. We put these conditions to try to improve the relations between the Prime Minister and the President. We expect the new President and the Prime Minister will have no more conflicts," Meles told journalists.
The seven-member regional conflict resolution body, IGAD, groups Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Somalia, together with Eritrea, which has been dissenting its membership due to Ethiopia's military operation in Somalia.
The regional leaders issued a series of tough directives to the Somalia Transitional Federal Government (TFG) during a 28 October Summit in Nairobi, asking the interim government to conclude a series of political deals to earn an extension of its mandate.
The TFG was formed in 2004 and had a six-year mandate to implement a raft of political measures and prepare the country for its first general elections in several years.
The government was also expected to put in place a new cabinet within weeks..
The IGAD leaders gave an ultimatum to the interim authority in Somalia to immediately implement a power-sharing agreement with the opposition groups and moderate Islamist groups that had negotiated a power-sharing agreement with the government in Djibouti.
Apart from setting up a unity cabinet, TFG was asked to put in place a joint national security committee within weeks, set up a joint cabinet, draft the new constitution within six months from October and a new political parties' law within three months.
"There was a conflict. It has been resolved by other means, the leader of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) is the new leader of the TFG. All the essential elements have been implemented," Meles told a news conference.
He said the election of President Sharif Ahmed has been welcome by the IGAD during a summit on the sidelines of the African Union Summit, which took place in Addis Ababa from 1-4 February 2009, during which the leaders resolved to aid his government.
"The IGAD states took note of the election of the new President and committed to support the new government and agreed to help resolve the remaining issues," the Ethiopian Premier said.
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