A planned Mombasa retreat for Somali leaders has been postponed indefinitely.

Foreign Affairs minister Kalonzo Musyoka yesterday called off the meeting, which was scheduled to start today.

This is the third time the retreat has been cancelled. It was initially scheduled for November 20, but was put back to December 9 before being called off again.

The conference was due to be launched by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the chairman of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) Assembly of Heads of State and Government.

Presidents Kibaki and Joachim Chissano of Mozambique were expected to attend.

About 40 leaders were to attend the 10-day retreat to speed up the reconciliation.

Mr Musyoka said the leaders were expected to openly discuss their concerns to overcome any hurdles in the peace process.

Mr Musyoka, who is also the chairman of the Igad ministerial committee on the peace process, said a new date would soon be communicated to the leaders.

He was on a three-day visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which began on Tuesday. He met President Meles Zenawi with whom he exchanged notes regarding the Somali peace talks.

The minister also met Sudanese President Omar Hassan el Bashir and discussed the possibility of a peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) by mid next-month.

He also attended a conference on the forum on China-Africa cooperation in the Ethiopian capital.

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