Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged strong US support for Somalia's fragile government today and said that Eritrean interference in the Horn of Africa nation was "unacceptable."
"It is fair to say that President Obama and I want to expand and extend our support for the transitional federal government," Mrs Clinton said at a joint news conference with Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
She said Eritrea should stop meddling in Somali affairs. "We are making it very clear that their actions are unacceptable. We intend to take action if they do not cease," she said.
Australian police said this week they had uncovered a plot to attack an army base in Sydney by men with alleged links to al Shabaab which Washington accuses of being al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia.
The United States has offered military aid to Somalia's government, including more than 40 tonnes of weapons and ammunition in recent months, as it battles the al-Shabaab militant group, which Washington accuses of being al-Qaeda's proxy in Somalia.
The Obama administration has ruled out sending US forces to help fight against Islamist militants. The last US involvement in Somalia - during former president Bill Clinton's presidency - ended in shambles.
Eighteen US soldiers were killed in Mogadishu in October 1993, marking the beginning of the eventual withdrawal of a US-UN peacekeeping force from Somalia.
Reuters