Cairo - Arab, African, European and United States diplomats held talks in the Egyptian capital on Tuesday in a bid to see how they can help Somalia's transitional government restore law and order in the Horn of Africa nation.
The one-day gathering at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo were part of efforts by the International Contact Group on Somalia to try and get the warring parties there to end the fighting.
Mogadishu, the Somali capital, remained calm for a second day on Tuesday after the city's worst bout of violence in 15 years left about 400 people dead.
"The most important issue on the table is the security in the country," Somali Foreign Minister Ismael Hurreh told The Associated Press.
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'So it's becoming imminent to look into the host of challenges that we have to confront' Amr Moussa, the league's secretary general, said the contact group would try to find ways to beef up the ceasefire reached in Mogadishu on Monday, speed up the deployment of more African Union peacekeepers and disarm militias.
He said the league was prepared to offer $1-million (about R7-million) to help with the integration of militiamen into Somalia's armed forces.
Moussa also warned of a humanitarian crisis in Somalia, calling for emergency supplies to be sent there and for reconstruction work to start in the war-ravaged nation.
"Without political progress ... the crisis would enter vicious and violent circles, so it's becoming imminent to look into the host of challenges that we have to confront as an international community toward Somalia, and to work together to solve it," Moussa said.
Somalia, a member of the Arab League, has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned against each other. A national government was established in 2004, but has failed to assert any real control.
Raymond Johansen, Norway's deputy foreign minister, said the Cairo talks also will attempt to secure the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops and allowing African Union peacekeepers to take charge of security in the entire country.
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