MOGADISHU, Somalia, May 25, 2007 - Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin arrived here Friday for his first visit since an Ethiopian offensive last month ended some of the worst fighting in the Somali capital's volatile history.

The minister, accompanied by some 30 officials, met President Abdillahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi on his arrival in Mogadishu.

"The visit is to discuss bilateral issues," an Ethiopian ministerial advisor told AFP, declining to give details on the length or content of the visit.

The delegation, traveling in armored vehicles from the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, also visited the recently-renovated Ethiopian embassy, near the presidential palace Villa Somalia.

At the start of the year, Ethiopian-Somali troops ousted the Islamic Courts Union, which had called for a holy war against Addis Ababa and rejected the Somali interim government, set up in 2004.

Islamist-led insurgent attacks have been increasing in Mogadishu since an Ethiopian offensive at the end of April put an end to two bouts of heavy clashes that killed hundreds and forced tens of thousands to flee.

The Horn of Africa nation plunged into lawlessness with the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siyad Barre and more than a dozen attempts to restore central authority have since failed.  

Source: AFP