The U.N. Security Council meets the key players in the Somalia conflict on Monday to try to persuade the disparate factions to cooperate and restore order to the desperately poor and lawless Horn of Africa country.The Somalia talks mark the start of a 10-day tour of regional hot-spots that will bring diplomats from the 15-nation council to Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and the Ivory Coast.
The meetings on Monday and Tuesday will be held in Djibouti, not in Somalia as some council members had hoped, because U.N. security officials were worried that the Security Council would be too tempting a target for armed militants.
South Africa's ambassador to the United Nations, Dumisani Kumalo, said he hoped the Somalis would seize the opportunity to prove to the Security Council that they are serious about getting their country back on its feet. Kumalo said the Djibouti meeting represented a "great opportunity" for Somalis to try to find peace and stability.