Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Wednesday urged the transitional Somali government to prepare for a national reconciliation conference soon.

Abul Gheit made the statements during his meeting with visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, expressing concern about the deteriorating situation in Somalia, according to Alaa Hadidi, the Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Abul Gheit said that the national reconciliation in Somalia must involve all factions in order to succeed, warning the ongoing foreign presence in Somalia would further complicate the already- tense situation there and urging more unified efforts to make Somalis live in peace and stability, said Hadidi.

Cairo hosted on Tuesday a meeting of the International Contact Group on Somalia in the Arab League headquarters, which called on international parties to take urgent actions to help Somalia restore law and order. Abul Gheit hailed the meeting as frank.

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former ruler Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.

The transitional government was formed in 2004 with UN help, but has little authority across the country because it has no real army or police force.

The two foreign ministers also discussed efforts to revive the Mideast peace process as Abul Gheit called for resuming Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, reiterating the Arab side's commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative of the 2002 Beirut Summit.

Source: Xinhua