Members of the African Union's peace and security council are holding urgent talks on the crisis in Somalia.
Members of the African Union's peace and security council are holding urgent talks on the crisis in Somalia and how to boost the peacekeeping force there.
The meeting of foreign ministers, in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, is to focus on finding a way to strengthen the peacekeeping force in Somalia.
The UN envoy to Somalia said there was a "hidden genocide" taking place.
An Ethiopian force of more than 3,000 troops has been backing the interim government, but is about to withdraw.
Ethiopia says its 3,000 troops will withdraw by the end of the year, which some fear will lead to a power vacuum.
An earlier meeting of the East African regional group, Igad, decided to impose sanctions on the Somali president.
The AU force already in Mogadishu is too small to resist resurgent Islamist and nationalist fighters, even if it wanted to take them on.
The transitional government is in disarray, says the BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Addis Ababa, after President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed attempted to sack Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein - a move the prime minister and parliament rejected.
UN head Ban Ki-moon last week rejected calls for UN peacekeepers to be sent.
Peacekeepers promised
He said the situation in Somalia was too dangerous and there was no peace to keep.
Torn by internal conflict, Somalia has been without an effective central government for more than 15 years.
SOMALIA'S WOES 3m need food aid - a third of the population1m displacedGovernment only controls BaidoaIslamist groups control much of the countryNo effective government since 1991Piracy on the rise "The Somali problem is a problem for the whole region," said Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, the UN special envoy to Somalia, reports the AFP news agency.
Islamist insurgents are on the upsurge and control most of the country. SOMALIA'S WOES 3m need food aid - a third of the population1m displacedGovernment only controls BaidoaIslamist groups control much of the countryNo effective government since 1991Piracy on the rise
"There is a hidden genocide in Somalia which has sacrificed entire generations."
Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991.
Ethiopian troops intervened two years ago to oust Islamists from the capital and install the internationally recognised government.
But that government is now in disarray and different Islamist groups now control much of southern Somalia.
On Sunday, the East African regional group, Igad, decided to impose sanctions on the Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, after he tried to sack Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.
Parliament last week said the prime minister's dismissal was illegal and gave him an overwhelming vote of confidence.
Peacekeeping doubts
The Ethiopian troops, a weak AU force and troops loyal to the interim Somali government are limited to parts of Mogadishu and the central town of Baidoa, where parliament is based.
The Ethiopian troops, a weak AU force and troops loyal to the interim Somali government are limited to parts of Mogadishu and the central town of Baidoa, where parliament is based.
The AU ministers now have the task of trying to beef up the AU mission in Somalia, which will no longer have the comfort of knowing it can call for Ethiopian back-up when needed, says our correspondent.
The AU ministers now have the task of trying to beef up the AU mission in Somalia, which will no longer have the comfort of knowing it can call for Ethiopian back-up when needed, says the BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Addis Ababa, where the AU meeting is being held.
At the Igad meeting on Sunday, African Union commission head Jean Ping said Nigeria was ready to send a battalion of about 850 troops.
On Sunday, AU commission head Jean Ping raised the prospect that Nigeria, Uganda and Burundi could each send a battalion - about 850 troops - to bolster the 3,200 peacekeepers already in Mogadishu.
Burundi and Uganda would each send an additional battalion, he said.
But the AU commissioner for peace and security Ramtane Lamamra on Monday said a possible offer by Nigeria to provide troops needed further clarification.
The AU special representative for Somalia Nicolas Bwakira said the offers from Burundi and Uganda, whose troops make up the existing force, were conditional on the establishment of an inclusive government in Mogadishu and their receiving support from the international community.
'Paralysed government'
'Paralysed government'
The foreign ministers of the six-member Inter-governmental Authority on Development (Igad) came out in support of Prime Minister Nur in the political conflict with President Yusuf.
The foreign ministers of the six-member Inter-governmental Authority on Development (Igad) came out in support of Prime Minister Nur in the political conflict with President Yusuf.
After their meeting, the group said: "[Igad] regrets the attempts by President Yusuf to unconstitutionally appoint a new prime minister that Igad does not recognise, and decides to impose sanctions on him and his associates immediately."
After their meeting, the group said: "[Igad] regrets the attempts by President Yusuf to unconstitutionally appoint a new prime minister that Igad does not recognise, and decides to impose sanctions on him and his associates immediately."
Mr Yusuf had said he sacked the prime minister a week ago because the government had been "paralysed by corruption, inefficiency and treason" and failed to bring peace.
Mr Yusuf had said he sacked the prime minister a week ago because the government had been "paralysed by corruption, inefficiency and treason" and failed to bring peace.
However, Somalia's parliament declared the sacking illegal and passed a vote of confidence in Mr Nur by a huge majority.
The lack of an effective government has led to the rise of piracy off the Somali coast.
Fighting between pro-government forces and Islamist militias has led more than a million people to flee their homes.
Aid agencies say some three million people need food aid - about a third of the population - but attacks by pirates and militias make it extremely difficult to deliver humanitarian assistance.
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