ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - AP World News via NewsEdge Corporation : In a significant shift away from acrimony and suspicion, Somalia's foreign minister said Saturday that Ethiopia and his country have large stakes in each other's peace and security.

Ismail Bure Buba said an Ethiopian delegation would soon visit Mogadishu, the Somali capital, adding that ``the sheer presence of Ethiopia in Somali affairs could contribute significantly to the peace process in Somalia and ensure its stability and security.''

Buba sought to play down previous Somali accusations that Ethiopia was sending troops across the border to undermine Somalia's transitional administration.

Ethiopia and Somalia have fought two wars since the mid-1970s over Ethiopia's southeastern Ogaden region, home to thousands of ethnic Somalis.

Buba said Ethiopia had twice sent troops into Somalia, but that was before the formation seven months ago of the transitional government of President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, which he said had not yet been able to establish a presence in all areas of the country. This, in turn, created a vacuum leading to insecurity on the Ethiopian side, he said.

``And there was a lack of understanding and mutual suspicion of what each side was doing in these areas, leading to harsh exchanges of words between the two countries,'' Buba said. ``We have now removed the causes of misunderstanding and mutual suspicion.''

At a news conference following three days of talks between the nine-man Somali delegation and Ethiopian officials, Buba said Abdiqassim's government expects the delegation ``to offer technical expertise, particularly in demobilizing militias and restoring peace and security in some of our major towns.''

The interim government, chosen at a peace conference in neighboring Djibouti last August, had accused Ethiopia of crossing into several Somali border towns and backing factions opposed to President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan. Ethiopia denies the claims.

Although it is still establishing its control, the interim government is the first central authority in Somalia since faction leaders ousted President Mohamed Siad Barre in January 1991, then turned on each other, plunging the country into chaos.

The main opposition to Abdiqassim's government comes from the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council, a group of clan-based faction leaders headed by Mohamed Hussein Aidid that was created under Ethiopian auspices in Addis Ababa in March.

(aa/rn)