Somali opposition figures to unite in Eritrea (Reuter)

"We need a common agenda, platform and vision. This conference will not solve all the problems of Somalia. We should create a consensus approach including those who disapprove of this conference," he told Reuters by telephone.

"The failure of the last conference (in Mogadishu) was that it ignored key political leaders and positions and the venue was not correct," he added.

Tussles over leadership posts in a new opposition umbrella group may surface in Asmara, analysts say. Organisers insist the new grouping will not be dominated by Islamists, whom Ethiopia and the United States have accused of having ties to al Qaeda.

"The policy and strategy of the new organisation will be decided by the new leadership and not by the Islamic Courts," Abdirahman Warsame, representative of Somalia's diaspora community, told reporters in Asmara...more