NAIROBI, June 12 (Xinhua) -- African foreign ministers are due to meet in Kenya on Tuesday on political developments in Somalia, a week after Islamists seized control of the capital Mogadishu from warlords alliance, a senior Kenyan official disclosed here Monday.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju said foreign ministers from seven-nation regional bloc, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) would seek to widen sanctions against the Somali warlords which have been involved in the recent flare-ups in fighting in the Horn of Africa nation.
The minister told a news conference in Nairobi that talks are underway to widen sanctions against Somali warlords and desist supporting any factions fighting against the nascent administration based in Baidoa, about 250 km southwest of Mogadishu.
"I have convened the IGAD Council of Ministers on Tuesday to help address the unfolding situation in Somalia. I have had meetings with officials from the region and probably more sanctions would be applied against warlords or anybody who is disrupting peace in Somalia," Tuju told reporters in Nairobi.
"We are talking with Americans so that we can make sure we don't have discordant voices in respect to Somalia. We don't want blame game in the sense that Somalia is a crisis for the whole world and we want to ensure the international community acts with unity voice on Somalia," the minister said.
Tuju's comments came after the United States said it was inviting on short notice European and African countries to a meeting in New York this week on ways to deal with gains by Islamic militias in Somalia.
The Bush administration said the next meeting of the "Somalia Contact Group", which had long expressed concern inside the administration that a policy largely restricted to counter-terrorism priorities might prove counterproductive, will take place in New York this week.
Analysts say the haste with which the meeting is being convened reflected concern among the global community about the tightening grip of the militias on Mogadishu and other population centers in Somalia.
The IGAD meeting a week after the east African nation launched a fresh crackdown against Somali warlords, accusing them of using Nairobi as a haven to organize illegal activities and receive funding to advance the war in Mogadishu.
Last Tuesday, Kenya, which chairs the seven-nation regional bloc, announced the total ban on Somali warlords responsible for the latest vicious fighting in Mogadishu from entering her territory, saying they were undermining peace efforts in Somalia.
Kenyan officials say the ban covers the warlords, some of who were ministers who were recently sacked from the Somalia Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and their associates.
After weeks of fighting in the city, the Islamists last week defeated warlords, who had controlled the city for some 15 years.
Most of the warlords fled to the town of Jowhar, 90 km away, but two leaders remain besieged in the northern suburbs of the capital.
Despite a week of relative calm, Somali residents remain tense, fearing the Islamic militia could launch an assault on the warlord' s alliance in Jowhar or on the northern suburbs. Enditem