A Reconciliation Conference for more than 2,500 participants from all sections of Somali society met from May to August in Arta, Djibouti. A National Parliament was formed, Dr. Abdikassim Salad Hassan was elected president and the new Transitional National Government was recognized internationally. However, a Kenyan effort in January 2002 to bring together TNG and opposition factions failed. The TNG moved to Mogadishu in August 2000 but its authority was challenged by Somali leaders in the south of the country and by northern regional administrations in "Puntland" and "Somaliland".