NAIROBI, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Western and African diplomats met in Kenya on Friday to discuss sending regional peacekeepers and more aid to Somalia, where Ethiopian-backed government forces have routed a rival Islamist movement in a two-week war. The International Contact Group on Somalia, which includes the United States and European nations, held closed-door talks in Nairobi with Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, whose government has called for immediate military help. The group will discuss how to deploy a peacekeeping force that was approved by the U.N. Security Council before the war, but host Kenya said that was not the main point of the meeting. "There has been a lot of emphasis on troops, troops, troops... But for the normal Somali people, the most important thing is how to survive from one day to the next," Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju told reporters as he arrived. "We are going to do our best to help them. The most important thing is humanitarian support for the Somali people." U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer and other delegates were also discussing how to promote reconciliation in the Horn of Africa nation, as well as security issues including warlords, clan rivalries and terrorism. It was the second meeting of the group this week. In Brussels on Wednesday, European members of the group took no decisions but pledged to help restore stability and maybe increase aid to Somalia. Friday's meeting came hours after a purported audio tape by al Qaeda's deputy leader urged Somali Islamists to launch an Iraq-style guerrilla campaign of suicide and other attacks against Ethiopian forces in the country. Washington and Addis Ababa say the leaders of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council -- who are being pursued by Ethiopian and Somali government troops -- are linked to al Qaeda, a charge the Islamists have denied.
