UN welcomes moves towards Somali peace

The United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan, has welcomed moves by the new transitional government in Somalia to achieve peaceful progress.

In a report to the Security Council, Mr Annan urged all Somalis to resolve their differences peacefully.

The report said northern Somalia remained relatively calm, with central and southern districts more tense, but that banditry was rampant in the capital, Mogadishu.

The secretary-general said he was ready to consider sending a peace-building mission to Somalia, but this would only be possible after there was a single, effective authority for security in Mogadishu.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service