Somali president sets three conditions for talks with Islamic courts.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Text of report by Somali website Somaaljecel on 18 June

Transitional President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad yesterday said he would not hold any talks with Mogadishu's Islamic Courts Unions until they meet up to three conditions he set: that Islamic Courts Unions pull back to Mogadishu, lay down their arms and recognize the interim government.

Some officials of the Mogadishu Islamic Courts Unions responded to the remarks. Shaykh Ahmed Abdullahi (Fanah), one of the officials of the Islamic Courts Unions, said Abdullahi Yusuf's remarks were surprising, and was his second attempt to scuttle the effort to hold talks …