Should Somalis talk with al-Shabaab?

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- While academics were in support of talks in Somalia with al-Shabaab, local residents said it was time to take on the group while its positions were weak.

Gen. Fred Mugisha, a commander for the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, told the BBC that AMISOM and pro-government forces managed to clear most of al-Shabaab from Mogadishu.

Al-Shabaab's grip on Somalia is apparently in decline, though the group took responsibility for a recent suicide attack that left more than 70 people dead.

Laura Hammond, a researcher at the Department of Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, told the United Nations' humanitarian news agency IRIN that talks with al-Shabaab might be good for Somalia.

"I think that the only option for trying to respond to the emergency in the south and probably for the political future of Somalia, is to talk to al-Shabaab," she said.

Somalia's transitional government is making modest gains when compared with recent years, when it controlled only a tiny portion of the capital.

Hammond said humanitarian discussions were going on "quietly." But one businessman told IRIN on condition of anonymity that talking with al-Shabaab, which had swore its allegiance to al-Qaida, was a waste of time.

"They are currently in a very weak position," he said. "The opportunity is now to finish them."