By Adow Jubat and Boniface Ongeri

The Government of Japan has said it is committed to restoration of peace in war-ravaged Somalia.

Speaking in Mandera during the handing over of the refurbished border control post in the area, Japanese Ambassador to Kenya Shigeo Iwatani said instability in Somalia was an obstacle to the development of neigbouring countries like Kenya.

The state-of-the-art post to screen immigrants entering Kenya was refurbished by the Japanese government through the International Organisation for Migration.

Mr Iwatani said his government would support the Transitional Federal Government of President Shariff Ahmed towards realisation of a peaceful Somalia.

The envoy said Japan has since 2007 spent more than $5 million in supporting the TFG.

Kenya hosts about 300,000 Somali refugees due to upheaval in the horn of Africa country.