US slams Somali speaker's sacking

Somalia's speaker wanted to have talks with the Islamists

Senior US diplomat Jendayi Frazer has criticised a move by Somalia's parliament to sack its speaker.

Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan was removed for having unauthorised talks with the Islamists, who controlled much of southern Somalia until last month.

He also opposed Ethiopia's intervention to help drive the Islamists out.

Ms Frazer said that a spirit of reconciliation was needed in Somalia, and the no-confidence motion was likely to have a negative impact on dialogue.

Last week, the US launched air strikes in the far south of Somalia against the routed Islamist group, who they accuse of harbouring al-Qaeda members suspected of bombing US embassies in East Africa and a 2002 attack on Israeli targets in Kenya.

POSSIBLE PEACEKEEPERS 8,000-strong force proposed Uganda: 1,500 troops offered, subject to parliamentary approval Tanzania: Considering Nigeria: Considering Rwanda: Considering South Africa: Considering but forces stretched Somali viewpoints Profile: Ousted speaker

The Islamists denied they were sheltering senior al-Qaeda operatives.

Mr Adan had fallen out with both the interim president and the prime minister over recent developments in Somalia.

But Ms Frazer said the past had to be left behind.

"The symbol of the president and the prime minister combining to push him out is counter to that spirit of reconciliation," the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs told a conference in Washington on the Somali crisis.

"Going forward requires one thing, it requires reconciliation."

Mr Adan, currently on a tour of Europe, said the Ethiopian occupation meant decisions by MPs were null and void.

Ethiopia is estimated to have some 8,000 troops in Somalia help, which it is keen to remove as soon as possible.

Peacekeeping

Meanwhile, UN envoy Francois Lonseny Fall has held discussions with President Abdullahi Yusuf in the capital, Mogadishu.

"To see the president in Villa Somalia [the official residence of Somali presidents] is a very important step. We have to move step by step and we need all efforts to get this country rebuilt," he told reporters, AP news agency reports.

The government is trying to restore order in Mogadishu

Mr Yusuf went to Mogadishu last week, for the first time since being elected in 2004.

Regional diplomats are trying muster enough troops for an 8,000-strong African force for Somalia.

So far only Uganda has agreed to provide peacekeepers.

On Tuesday, the leaders of Ethiopia and Kenya said several African countries had offered to contribute troops to the force.

Both South Africa and Tanzania have said it is too early to decide whether they will contribute troops to the proposed African peacekeeping force.

The South African deputy foreign minister, Aziz Pahad, said in a BBC interview that while the need was urgent, his country's armed forces were already over-stretched, with a number of peacekeeping missions in Africa.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete earlier told the BBC that any troop deployment must first be discussed with military leaders.

Nigeria and Uganda are set to discuss the issue at the end of the month and BBC African analyst Martin Plaut says it would take weeks for any troops to be deployed.

He says that if the Ethiopian forces withdraw before peacekeepers arrive, that could result in a dangerous power vacuum.