Nairobi - Kenya said on Monday it would re-open its border with Somalia in recognition of progress made at talks in Nairobi to try to end a decade of anarchy in the Horn of Africa country.
Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi said he would urge Somalia's neighbours to organise a fresh meeting to allow the country's fledgling government and warlords opposed to the new administration to continue their dialogue.
"During this period of consultations no more blood should be shed in Somalia," Moi said.
Kenya closed its 500km border with Somalia in July to stem what it said was a flow of illegal firearms from the country, but Moi said the frontier would be re-opened.
"This is a goodwill gesture from Kenyans to their Somali brothers and sisters," Moi said.
A communique issued by the transitional government of Somali President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan and Somali faction leaders who attended the four days of talks said they had agreed on the need to organise further discussions to resolve their differences.
Moi warned at the start of the meeting that Somalia, which descended into turmoil after the overthrow of Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991, could become a haven for international terrorists unless peace was restored.
His warning echoed international concerns that Osama bin Laden and his followers, blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States, might try to shelter in Somalia if forced out of Afghanistan by US military action.
Abdiqassim was elected president by a conference of clan leaders last year, but has so far failed to convince many of the country's rival warlords to accept his rule.
He controls only pockets of the capital Mogadishu and little of the rest of the country. Most of the main warlords have formed a rival government in the town of Baidoa, called the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC).
The SRRC's Secretary-General Mowlid Ma'ane joined the talks with Abdiqassim in the Kenyan capital, but several of the most powerful warlords in the organisation failed to attend. - Reuters