Somali Reconciliation Body Reaches out to Al Shabaab

Somalia's national reconciliation commission has invited key Islamist insurgent group Al Shabaab for negotiations towards finding lasting peace in the war torn country. Commission chairman Islamel Muse told journalists Wednesday that the backing of the hardline group was imperative for peace in Somalia. Earlier this year, Al Shabaab boycotted UN-sponsored talks in Djibouti, which yielded a truce between the interim Somali government and an alliance of exiled Islamist opposition leaders. It is not clear whether the group will accept the commission’s invitation. [P.E]