A delegation of Somali politicians and military officials led by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed arrived in Addis Ababa on Monday for talks with Ethiopian and Djiboutian leaders in the Ethiopian capital.

The Transitional Federal Government’s minister for Information, Mr Abdulkadir Hussein Jahweyn, told the media the talks would mainly be on security matters concerning Somalia and the eastern Africa region, specifically how to ‘synergise’ the stabilisation of the region and the fight against Al-Shabaab.

The Addis talks come at a time the Kenyan Cabinet has approved an African Union request that Kenya Defence Forces (KDG) battling Al-Shabaab join the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

The move that is subject to Parliamentary approval is meant as a strategy to combat the terror group.

"The Cabinet that met under the chairmanship of President Mwai Kibaki at State House Nairobi also approved the re-hatting of the Kenya Defence Forces in Somalia to AMISOM, subject to approval by Parliament," said an emailed statement Tuesday.

President Ahmed held separate talks Monday with his Djibouti counterpart Ismael Omar Guelleh and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia.

“President Ahmed and other regional leaders welcomed the UN’s further sanctions on Eritrea,” said Jahweyn, referring to the Security Council’s toughened sanctions against Asmara after regional states accused it of continuing to provide support to the Al-Shabaab militias.

Meanwhile, reports from Afgoye town, 30km south of Mogadishu, indicated that Al-Shabaab militants seized two Western women who purportedly had escaped from kidnappers.

Source: MFA Press section

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