PM: World Will Pay Price If Somalia Ignored

Prime Minister David Cameron has appealed to international leaders to step up support for Somalia in an effort to stabilise the country described as "the world's most failed state".

Opening an international conference in London on the crisis-stricken east African state, the Mr Cameron said: "These problems in Somalia don't just affect Somalia. They affect us all.

"In a country where there is no hope, chaos, violence and terrorism thrive. Pirates are disrupting vital trade routes and kidnapping tourists.

"Young minds are being poisoned by radicalism, breeding terrorism that is threatening the security of the whole world.

"If the rest of us just sit back and look on, we will pay a price for doing so."

Representatives of more than 40 countries have gathering in London for the high-level international conference amid fears the East African nation is becoming the new breeding ground for terrorism.

Among the senior figures attending will be United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as the leaders of neighbouring African states.

Hopes for progress have risen in recent months after troops from the UN-backed African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) succeeded in driving the Islamist al Shabaab group from the capital, Mogadishu.

They were further bolstered by reports that the al Shabaab stronghold of Baidoa in the southwest of the country has fallen to troops from neighbouring Ethiopia and Somali government forces.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to increase the Amisom presence from a maximum of 12,000 troops to 17,700 while increasing funding and expanding its area of operations.

Nevertheless, al Shabaab remains in control of much of the country, and earlier this month it underscored its commitment to violent extremism by publicly declaring its affiliation to al Qaeda.

A recent report by the Royal United Services Institute think tank estimated that there were currently around 200 foreign fighters in training camps in the country - with around a quarter of them coming from Britain.

The report echoed a warning made by MI5 director general Jonathan Evans in 2010 that it was "only a matter of time" before there were terrorist attacks on the streets of Britain inspired by those fighting in Somalia.

With the London Olympics just months away, Mr Cameron has acknowledged that the security threat from al Shabaab was "real" and "substantial".

"The threat to our national security is growing. Young British minds are being poisoned by radicalism. Pirates are disrupting vital trade routes and kidnapping tourists and aid workers," he said in a statement ahead of the conference.

"The Shabaab control a third of the country. Famine and instability in Somalia are spreading instability across the wider region.

"Our national interest is clear: we can't just sit back and let all this carry on."

Officials said Mr Cameron's decision to call the conference - being held at Lancaster House - reflected the deep concern in Whitehall at the threat posed by the continuing instability.

"It is clear that there are British nationals who have been among the foreign fighters who find a haven in al Shabaab areas," said one senior diplomat.

"We know al Shabaab has reach beyond Somalia. What we are talking about is not simply a threat to the region - it is a threat to the UK."