To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Contact Group counterparts on the situation in Somalia; and if he will make a statement. (182200)

The International Contact Group for Somalia most recently met at senior official level in Rome on 10 September 2007. The next Contact Group meeting is due to be hosted by the African Union in Addis Ababa, although a date has yet to be set. The Government continue to be in close contact with our key Contact Group partners, for example my noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, the right hon. Lord Malloch-Brown’s meeting with UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General Ould Abdalla in London on 7 December 2007.