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ROME, May
21, 2009 – Italy will host a June 9-10 meeting of the International
Contact Group (ICG) on Somalia to discuss ways of stabilizing the
country and tackling piracy off the Horn of Africa, the foreign ministry
said.
The meeting will be chaired by the United Nations' special envoy for
Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, and will also be attended by Somali
Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdillahi Omaar.
Italy made no mention of any opposition representatives attending the
meeting.
The ICG is a multi-nation group trying to broker peace in the eastern
African country.
The Rome meeting is aimed at helping Somalia consolidate its fragile
U.N.-backed government, which is battling Islamist insurgents, Italian
Minister Franco Frattini has said.
Forces loyal to President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, Somalia's first Islamist
president, control only parts of the coastal capital and Somalia's
central region.
Source: Reuters
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