Nervously, world powers eye greater Somalia action

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http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/02/24/uk-somalia-diplomacy-idUKTRE81N0P420120224

(Reuters) - Somalia might still be described as the "world's worst failed state," but international enthusiasm for involvement there is ticking up to levels not seen since the 1994 withdrawal of international peacekeepers.

Following the October 1993 "Blackhawk Down" debacle in which 18 US servicemen and well over a thousand Somalis died in a botched Mogadishu battle, world powers have largely left Somalia to anarchy, chaos and conflict. Some estimates suggest more than a million people may have died since Somalia's last government collapsed in 1991.

But Thursday's London conference on Somalia -- which brought together representatives of more than 40 countries including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon -- appeared to be the latest sign that approach might be beginning to shift.

Officials say growing worries over Somalia becoming perhaps the leading global haven for Islamist militancy and the rising cost of Somali piracy -- estimated to cost the global economy some $7 billion a year -- helped spur action.