By John Muoki/KNA

Nairobi, September 06, 2007 - Kenya is lobbying the United Nations (U.N) Security Council, ahead of its annual summit at the end of this month to take the current Somalia crisis as part of its agenda, Foreign Affairs assistant minister, Kembi Gitura has said.

Mr. Gitura said the gains made during the recently concluded Somali national reconciliation conference, should not be left to fade, but should be strengthened by the U.N member countries, by taking the Somalia security matters seriously.

Gitura has already briefed the French government on the progress made during the one and a half month peace talks amongst the warring clans that ended last Friday.

Briefing journalists on Wednesday night at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport upon his arrival from France, Mr. Gitura said the Somali Transitional Federal Government was compiling resolutions reached during the reconciliation conference that would enable it chart the way forward for a peaceful Somalia.

This year's United Nations' Security Council meets in New York on September 25 this year, and part of its agenda will be insecurity at the Horn of Africa. French is a member of the Security Council.

"Some of the key issues that the forthcoming U.N Security Council should look into is the posting of the International Peace Keeping force in Somalia and to augment the current Ethiopian and Ugandan soldiers, who are already over-whelmed by insurgency's security'', said Mr. Gitura.

The reconciliation conference had been postponed three times amid threats of violence, and even when it got under-way on July 15 this year, it was marred by boycotts by some key parties.

The Hawiye clan, the dominant group in Mogadishu, and the union of Islamic Courts (UIC) were left out of the process.

Last week, the government reopened its embassy in Mogadishu, as a gesture to overtures of peace within the region.

Source: KBC