Somalia says Kenya committed to help defeat rebels

Last month, Somali troops and government-friendly militia took control of the border town of Beledhawo from the al Shabaab rebels. The town is a stone's throw from the Kenyan border town of Mandera.

Somalia has had no effective government for 20 years.

"Kenya has given us a commitment to give us its support to eliminate al Shabab fighters who have deployed foreign fighters in the border areas," Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said after meeting his Kenyan counterpart Raila Odinga late on Thursday.

He did not specify where the foreign jihadists are from, or the type of support that Kenya will extend.

Odinga said he had discussed with Mohamed the support Kenya will extend to Somalia in the fight against al Shabaab.

The United Nations is backing African Union efforts to stabilise Somalia and has called a high level meeting, which is likely to also discuss security, in Nairobi next week.

Mohamed, who earlier this week asked U.N. agencies that normally operate out of Nairobi to relocate to Somalia, wants the conference to be held in Somalia.

"We know so many meetings held outside were unfruitful ... the Somali people have to chart their own future," he said.

Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, said opposition to the Nairobi conference came from small groups that "do not fully understand the true aim of the meeting."

There will be a follow-up session in Mogadishu as proposed by the Somali government, Mahiga added in a statement.