Kenya urges world to back fledgling Somali government

Kenya on Thursday called on the international community to continue the efforts to end conflicts in Somalia as fighting raged in the capital between Islamists and a warlord alliance reportedly backed by Washington.

Addressing the nation during the celebrations for the 43rd anniversary of self-rule, President Mwai Kibaki urged governments to channel the support to the transitional federal government of Somalia, which has embarked on reconstruction of the war-torn nation after more than a decade of anarchy.

"Now that there is a government set up after wide consultations among all clans in Somalia, any support to Somalia should be channeled through the Transitional National Government of Somalia, " Kibaki said.

As a chair of the seven-member regional group Inter-Govermental Authority on Development (IGAD), which brokered the two-year reconciliation conference in Nairobi, Kibaki said he would strive to strengthen relations between neighboring countries to ensure lasting peace is restored to regional countries facing political turmoil.

"As current chairman of both regional bodies, I want to see the relations between our countries strengthened and lasting peace restored to some of our neighbors who have experienced many years of conflict," Kibaki told Kenyans at a national stadium.

He appealed to the international community to continue providing financial aid to Somalia as it moves towards reinstating other essential structures of the government.

"I urge the international community to support the efforts of the government of Somalia to restore peace to the country, and to consolidate national reconciliation and reconstruction," the Kenyan leader said.

His plea came as deadly clashes resumed in the lawless Somali capital of Mogadishu on Wednesday between fighters loyal to the city's Islamic courts and the warlord alliance, having killed at least seven people and wounded dozens and brought the death toll from a series of battles the two sides have fought since February to more than 300 despite urgent appeals for peace.

The transitional government, which was set up in Kenya in 2004, has accused Washington of funding the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) and contributing to instability.

The United States, which accuses the Islamists of harboring extremists, including Al-Qaeda members, said it has been "wrongly blamed" for the fighting but has refused to confirm or deny its backing for the alliance.

Source: Xinhua