NAIROBI, July 30 (Xinhuanet) -- A new Somali government which was supposed to be inaugurated in Nairobi on Friday has been deferred to next week, regional mediating body the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Ministerial Facilitation Committeeannounced here Friday.

    Addressing a news conference, Chairman of the IGAD Ministerial Facilitation Committee on Somalia Kalonzo Musyoka said that an all-inclusive government of national unity for the Horn of African country will be inaugurated in Nairobi on Wednesday, Aug. 4 and called on the Somalis to remain focused in their quest toward its formation.

    "The rescheduling is aimed at allowing the Somali clans who have exhibited commendable progress on the distribution and selection of members of parliament (MPs) more time in a bid to ensure that the complete list of 275 MPs is received by Monday Aug.2," Musyoka who is also the Kenyan Minister for Environment and Natural Resources told reporters.

    Somalia has been without a functioning government since the toppling of the regime of Mohammed Said Barre in 1991 and IGAD announced last week that Somalia's proposed transitional federal government will be inaugurated on July 30 in the Kenyan capital.

    Since October 2002, faction leaders have begun the Somali National Reconciliation Conference in Kenya under the auspices of IGAD, a seven-member regional group in east Africa, consisting of Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia.

    Musyoka said that the Somali parties bear the responsibility ofachieving their comprehensive peace agreement that would usher in an era of peace and tranquility for the war-torn country. Enditem