Prime Minister Raila Odinga was responding to Somali leaders' request to the neighbouring countries to help the war-torn country's government crush Islamic rebels and warloads currently fighting the government.
Raila told his visiting Somalia counterpart, Omar Abdirashid, that Kenya would focus on marshalling support for the transitional government from other countries.
"There is an IGAD resolution which actually restricts the immediate neighboring countries from sending troops to Somalia. That is why I am calling for international cooperation to this matter," he said.
However, he said Kenya would continue to actively support Somalia.
He announced that Kenya would discuss the crisis in Somalia in its cabinet meetings and would soon release a report which would also outline the mode of assistance it would offer.
He also downplayed continued threats by the Al-Shabaab militia, saying "they are threatening to bomb us but we don't want to respond to Al Shabaab at all. Their remarks are confined to themselves."
He appealed to the international community to offer practical solutions that could bail out the Transitional Federal Government from the recent wave of attacks by militia factions sympathetic to the cause of the Al Qaeda terrorist group.
He accused them of failing to live up to the promise of contributing US$ 213 million towards rehabilitating Somalia during a recent conference in Brussels, Belgium.
He also asked them to help Kenya deal with the influx of refugees who, he said, were fleeing into the country in thousands.
The Premier said Kenya had already secured land that could be used to expand the Dabaad refugee camp.
The problem of piracy which has lately been on the increase was also another concern raised by Odinga.
He said due to hijacking of ships, insurance companies had increased premiums, thereby affecting trade in the country.
Odinga also used the opportunity to call on Kenyans and other countries to learn from Somalia and value peace.
"What is happening in Somalia is a very vital lesson, the need for the people to tolerate each other. Here is a country where people speak one language, have one religion, one culture, but the nation is now it tatters," he said.
According to him, "so many conferences have taken place but people cannot make compromises, agree to power sharing to move the country forward. This is important."
He said prioritising the reform agenda in Kenya was a guaranteed way of cementing permanent peace in the country.
He also challenged the people of Somalia to tolerate each other and agree on an amicable way to restore peace.
The Somalia Prime Minister, who led a delegation of six top Somali officials on the visit, pleaded for intervention from Africa and the international community, saying the situation was getting worse daily.
"In the last few days, Somalia is facing a very hard situation. We have a large inflow of fighters that are now leading the fight against the government. We require security forces to help the security in Somalia," he said.
Nairobi - 22/06/2009
Pana
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