U.S. reiterates support for Somalia's transitional government

The United States said on Monday that it will continue its support for the transitional government in Somalia while calling for reconciliation talks in the war-torn country.

In response to a threat by the Islamic Courts of Somalia to boycott the talks in Khartoum, Sudan, until Ethiopian troops have left Somalia, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said "It is unfortunate that they have placed those conditions on meeting with the transitional federal institutions."

"We continue to support those institutions. They are not very well developed and rather weak," McCormack said.

"The only way that you're going to improve the situation in Somalia, for the Somalian people, is to try to have the various constituent groups come together for a common solution that benefits all of the Somalian people."

The spokesman said that the United States has misgivings about "outside countries involved in Somalia."

The Islamic Court, which controls the capital, Mogadishu, and most of southern Somalia, is by far the most powerful coalition in Somalia.

A round of planned peace talks between the Somali transitional government and Islamists which was due to open in Sudan on Monday had been thrown into jeopardy after the powerful Islamists demanded withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops in the lawless nation. Ethiopia has been accused of sending troops to back the interim government in Somalia that opposes the Islamists. Eritrea was also reported to have deployed troops supporting the Islamic Courts in Somalia.

Source: Xinhua