EU suggests new plan of support Somalia’s transitional government

Last week, Somalia's weak, U.N.-backed transitional government could only watch from the sidelines as militia of the Islamic Courts Union, which the U.S. accuses of harboring al-Qaida terrorists, battled the warlords and seized Mogadishu.

Photo: EU suggests new plan of support Somalia’s transitional government

The Islamic militia now control most of southern Somalia, while northeastern Somalia is run by an autonomous government allied to President Abdullahi Yusuf's administration and central Somalia is controlled by several groups.

Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Affairs, speaking Tuesday on the sidelines of a regional meeting on Somalia, said easing the embargo to allow Somalia to develop a police force and army would be one way for the international community to respond if the government presented a plan for stabilization after more than a decade of lawlessness, the AP reports.