Representatives of 45 nations and international bodies met in Madrid Monday to consider plans to strengthen an African Union peacekeeping force in war-torn Somalia.

The AU force, known as AMISOM, comprises about 7,200 troops, and the meeting of the UN-backed International Contact Group on Somalia, which is to conclude on Tuesday, will "look into a possible reinforcement," Spain's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Stepping up the fight against maritime piracy in waters off the coast of Somalia and finding ways to boost support for the country's transitional government will be among the other topics discussed, it added.

Delegates from 45 nations and international organisations, including the United States and the European Union, are taking part in the meeting which was closed to the press.

Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and the top United Nations envoy to the country, Augustine Mahiga, are among the participants.

Ahmed warned in a speech before the UN General Assembly on Saturday that Somalia is "a weak link" in the fight against international terrorism and urged nations to continue to assist in training its forces and supporting the AU peacekeeping contingent.

This is the Government we are supporting. No Al-Shabab, no Al-Qaeda here:

the Islamic scholars jointly issued a 12 point communiqué that highlights the current scenarios facing Somalia, and condemning many un-Islamic practices used to fuel the escalating conflict and also warning the people.

They called on the Muslims to strictly follow the Islamic way of life and adhere to the ways in which Prophet Muhammad (...) used in reaching out to the population.

Authorities in Somalia were urged to implement the Islamic Shari'ah Law in the areas they control.

The Islamic clerics warned of legitimizing shedding Muslim blood in the "disguise of fighting for Islam" and also tagging a Muslim person as an infidel without taking the due process.

Hey, with the "due process" you can tag a Muslim person as infidel. So imagine someone who is not a Muslim...

"Somalis are Muslims and they need to be calmly corrected in terms of their faith, culture and behavior. So, it is not acceptable for these groups fighting in Somalia to judge each other and other people as apostate," reads the communiqué issued at the conclusion of the Islamic conference in Garowe.

The clerics also agreed that the war that is going on in Somalia is an "incitement"rather than a holy war (jihad), as claimed by the Islamist insurgent factions like Al Shabaab.

The communiqué condemned the presence of foreign troops in the country, saying they are not welcomed by the Somali people. Mogadishu is home to about 5,300 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi who are serving under an African Union peacekeeping mandate.

The presence of foreign troops inside the war-torn country is "dangerous to the religion and socio-political well being of the population," it adds. (Oh, wait, their Muslim "purity" could be contaminated by non-Muslim forigners... Bunch of racists Islamic supremacists...)

Acts of piracy along the Somalia's coastline was also condemned in the communiqué, terming it "dangerous and shameful to Islam" and also degrading the people's way of life.

The Somali Islamic scholars proposed a large reconciliation conference to be held inside Somalia, which would bring together all the Islamic scholars to discuss the way forward in the bid to find a lasting solution for the swelling problems that face Somalia at the moment.

Who would they be reconciled with? Al Shabab?

Has African Union something to say about it? [I think Lybia is now chairing it, so, ... no] Has Ban "I make trips to condemn Israelis but never when it's a Muslim country" Ki-Moon sais something about this "peaceful" communiqué?

BBC:

Mr Bashir was indicted over alleged atrocities in Darfur in March.
But on Friday an AU meeting in Libya agreed a resolution saying they would not co-operate in his arrest.
In a statement, the AU pointed out that its request to the UN Security Council to delay Mr Bashir's indictment had been ignored.
Mr Ocampo told the BBC that the AU decision was no victory for Sudan or Mr Bashir. "No-one is saying he's innocent," he said.

Solidarity between HR abusers. If it's not the African Union, is China.