ADEN, Dec 16: A leader of Somalia’s Islamic Courts militia and the influential parliament speaker said on Saturday they had agreed at talks in Yemen to turn to dialogue between the Islamists and the government to resolve differences.

“The Islamic Courts are committed to dialogue with the interim federal Somali government as a way of resolving differences and stopping any moves conducive to military confrontations by any side,” speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden and Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said in a joint statement.

The statement was issued after three days of talks in the southern port city of Aden under the auspices of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

It said the two sides would resume dialogue to reach a political settlement guaranteeing the participation of all sides in government.

The Somali speaker said he had reached the deal with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in his capacity as part of the interim authority represented by parliament, the government and the presidency.

The government is committed to dialogue and peaceful solutions, he said.—AFP