3 January 2007 - The US is seeking to re-establish a presence in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia, after an absence of 12 years following the ousting of Islamist forces this week by Ethiopian-backed Somali allies.

Jendayi Frazer, assistant secretary of state, hopes to include Mogadishu in a tour that began on Wednesday with the aim of shoring up Somalia’s transitional government with multinational African forces and US humanitarian aid.

A US official confirmed that if the visit went ahead, Ms Frazer would be the most senior US official to set foot in Somalia since before the 1993 battle against a Mogadishu warlord that cost the lives of 19 American servicemen in one day and precipitated the US withdrawal in 1994.

The Bush administration tacitly supported Ethiopia’s intervention last month but now fears Meles Zenawi, the prime minister, will pull out his forces before Somalia is stabilised. Ms Frazer is expected to meet Mr Meles and Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president, in Addis Ababa, and co-host an international meeting on Somalia in Nairobi tomorrow.

The US sees Uganda playing a key role in an African stabilisation force in Somalia. So far only Uganda and Nigeria have indicated willingness to participate.

Ms Frazer last month accused the Islamic Courts Union, which had seized power in Mogadishu from US-backed warlords in June, of being under the control of “ East Africa al-Qaeda cells”.

US warships are patrolling the Somali coast to prevent the escape of al-Qaeda suspects.

A Kenyan official said refugees were being allowed across the border under tight security but the frontier was otherwise closed. Somali and Ethiopian troops pursued Islamist fighters in the south of the country.

A visible US presence in Mogadishu would represent at least a symbolically important moment of progress for the Bush administration in a widening region of conflict and proxy wars that have involved Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, parts of Sudan, and the Central African Republic.

But there are concerns in the administration and among its critics that the US will be seen in the Muslim world to be waging another proxy war against Islamist adversaries.

Officials at a European Union meeting in Brussels urged Somalia’s transitional government to negotiate with opposition forces to pave the way for a peacekeeping force. John Sawers, a UK official, said: “It is important we create the conditions whereby Ethiopia can withdraw.” But he said it was unlikely a pull-out would be possible within the two weeks suggested by Mr Meles.

Reporting by Guy Dinmore in Washington, Andrew England in Cairo, Andrew Bounds in Brussels and Mark Turner at the United Nations.

Source: FT