BRUSSELS, July 17, 2006 – A group of nations trying to coordinate a strategy for helping Somalia strengthen state institutions urged the country's transitional government to participate in reconciliation talks with the Islamic militants who have taken over the capital.

The International Contact Group on Somalia, called for a dialogue that will be "inclusive to all components of the Somali society," said Stefano Manservisi, head of the European Commission's Directorate General for Development.

The contact group includes representatives of the E.U., U.S., the African Union and the League of Arab States.

Somalia's transitional government said it would boycott the peace talks scheduled for July 22 in Khartoum, Sudan, saying the militants that have seized control of most of the country's south massacred civilians and wants to topple the government.

Manservisi said the E.U., as well as the rest of the international group, backed the transitional government and Mogadishu, the capital, as the government's only possible seat.

"We have to underline that the capital of Somalia is Mogadishu and therefore there should be a sort of agreed roadmap to Mogadishu to recompose the unity of the country," he said, adding, however, that there was no "quick fix" for the situation.

The Supreme Islamic Courts Council sent negotiators to Khartoum despite the boycott by the government, which was formed with the help of the U.N. but wields no real power outside its base in Baidoa, 250 kilometers from Mogadishu.

The E.U. provides EUR70 million a year in aid to the transitional government, E.U. Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said.

Source: AP