Kenya to convene summit on Somalia

East African nation announces plan for regional meeting as Islamic courts face rout.

ethiopian tanks
Ethiopian troops have played a key role in the routing of Somalia's Council of Islamic Courts [AFP]
Kibaki did not give a date for the summit that comes after Kenyan diplomats made a failed attempt last week to avert the latest stage of the conflict by inviting Somali Islamic courts leaders to secret talks in Nairobi.
 
He said: “We don’t want people to continue fighting, what are they fighting for … in the end it all, you will see people dead.”
 
Ongoing assault
 
The Kenyan leader spoke as Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops and tanks attacked Islamic courts fighters near their final stronghold town of Kismayo in the south, about 500km south of the capital Mogadishu.
 
The militia’s commanders conceded on Sunday that government and Ethiopian troops, backed by tanks and trucks, had taken control of Jilib township, about 100km north of Kismayo.
 
Kenya, which mediated the convoluted peace talks that ended in the creation of the Somali interim government in 2004, faces the prospect of receiving additional Somali refugees.
Source: News Agencies