Somalia Speaker Revisits Arta, Site of Landmark 2000 Peace Conference

GOOBJOOG NEWS | ARTA: Somalia’s parliamentary Speaker, Abdulqadir Mohamed Nur (Jama), has visited Arta, the Djiboutian town that hosted a landmark 2000 reconciliation conference widely regarded as a turning point in efforts to restore central government in Somalia after the collapse of the state.

Nur, who is on a four-day official visit to Djibouti, toured the town on Tuesday, visiting its history museum, the Peace Monument and other sites associated with the reconciliation process.

The 2000 Arta conference brought together Somali political leaders, traditional elders, civil society representatives and other stakeholders in an effort to end years of conflict and establish a functioning national administration.

The process resulted in the formation of a Transitional National Assembly and the establishment of the Transitional National Government, led by President Abdiqasim Salad Hassan. It marked one of the most significant attempts to restore national institutions following the collapse of Somalia’s central government in 1991.

More than two decades later, Arta remains an important symbol of Somalia’s reconciliation efforts and Djibouti’s involvement in the country’s political transition.

During the visit, Nur thanked the government and people of Djibouti for their continued support for Somalia, particularly their contribution to peace, stability and national unity. He also paid tribute to the people of Arta for the town’s place in Somalia’s modern political history.

The visit comes amid longstanding relations between Somalia and Djibouti, which has hosted several Somali reconciliation initiatives and maintained diplomatic engagement in efforts to support peace and state-building in the country.

Nur’s visit also underscores the role of parliamentary diplomacy in sustaining relations between the two neighbours, whose historical, cultural and political ties remain closely intertwined.