Somalia calls for urgent deployment of troops

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf on Friday called for urgent deployment of peacekeepers to his war torn nation to enable his government stamp its authority on the country's soil.

Addressing an international meeting of the Somalia Contact Group underway in Nairobi, Yusuf appealed for international help to reverse 16 years of fighting which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions others.

"There is now a rare opportunity and a genuine breakthrough in the political situation in Somalia. We need you to actualize financial, material and technical assistance,"Yusuf told the

meeting of the United Nations, European Union, African Union, Arab League, United States and regional states.

The newly ensconced transitional government forces backed by Ethiopian troops have been fighting hundreds of fleeing Islamist militiamen close to the Kenyan border.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said he wants his heavily armed forces, which are supporting Somali soldiers against the Islamists, out of the country in a matter of weeks.

Yusuf said in his opening remarks the international assistance " would enable us to achieve objectives which not only have great significant for our people but also for the people of the sub- region as a whole."

The meeting comes barely a day after the top U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer met with the presidents of Ethiopia and Uganda where the issue of peacekeeping force featured.

During the meeting, Kenya, which chairs the seven-nation regional mediating body, IGAD, urged the international community to assist Somalia and warned of a renewed fighting if assistance was delayed.

"Failure to act immediately will lead to vacuum that would certainly be exploited by the warlords and other extremist forces, " Kenyan Foreign Affair Minister Raphael Tuju told the diplomats.

A message purported to be from an al-Qaeda leader urged the Islamist militias to fight "crusaders".

An audio message said to be from al-Qaeda's number two, Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri, called for the Islamists to use guerrilla tactics in Somalia.

"I speak to you today as the crusader invader forces of Ethiopia violate the soil of the beloved Muslim Somalia," the five- minute tape posted on a website used by militants said.

Analysts say Somalia's transitional government represents the latest chance to bring an end to the anarchy that started in 1991, when clan militias overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other.

Source: Xinhua