The Spokesperson of the Federal Foreign Office, Martin Jäger, said on Wednesday (10 January 2007): "We have noted with concern the media reports that civilians were killed during the military operations. However, the German Government has no information of its own on these incidents. In our view, the main priority now is to stabilize Somalia. The EU is working actively towards this end in the International Somalia Contact Group. The Group's aim is to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the country, to support an inter-Somali dialogue which includes those Islamic groups prepared to engage in dialogue, and to prevent a security vacuum once the Ethiopian troops have been withdrawn. In this connection, we support the current efforts of the African Union to send a peacekeeping force."
