First African peacekeepers expected in Somalia by end of month

The first African peacekeepers to help the government assert its authority in Somalia are expected by the end of January, the prime minister said today.

Reporting to Somalia's transitional parliament about the government's work since it relocated to the capital, Mogadishu, in December, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi also said the government would not negotiate with the remnants of an Islamic movement it recently ousted, with key help from Ethiopian troops, from Mogadishu and much of the rest of southern Somalia.