British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Thursday opened a new embassy in Mogadishu, 22 years after London pulled its diplomats from conflict-torn Somalia.

The move makes Britain the first EU nation to return to Somalia and comes ahead of a major conference on the future of the Horn of Africa nation in London on May 7.

Authorities are investigating a Canadian's possible death in Mogadishu after reports said he led a recent attack by Shebab Islamists on the main courthouse in the Somali capital.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police "is aware there are media reports linking a Canadian to terrorist attacks in Mogadishu," Sergeant Greg Cox told Agence France Presse.

A new survey from Somalia says the practice of female genital mutilation is on the decline.

The survey released Tuesday by UNICEF and the governments of Somaliland and Puntland found that 25 percent of girls ages 1 to 14 have undergone the practice, compared to 99 percent of women.

Somalia's security forces launched a major security operation Monday searching for explosives and weapons, a day after a spectacular suicide attack by Islamist insurgents in the city.

"There is a major security operation under way in Mogadishu," said senior police official Mohamed Hassan. "So far more than 400 people have been detained, the operations are aimed at tackling insecurity."

A nine-man suicide commando blasted its way into Mogadishu's main court complex Sunday, some blowing up their explosives vests while others sprayed gunfire in a rampage that left 29 civilians dead, while a separate bomb attack killed five more.

The al-Qaida-linked Shebab militant group claimed responsibility for the courthouse attack, which the country's chief justice escaped unharmed on the worst day of violence the city has seen in months.

The International Monetary Fund recognized the government of Somalia Friday, ending a 22-year break in relations that could lead to IMF technical and policy support to the country.

"The International Monetary Fund today recognized the Federal Government of Somalia, headed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, paving the way for the resumption of relations after a 22-year interval," the IMF said in a statement.

Britain on Friday said it believed terror attacks were in the final stages of planning in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) reiterated its warning to all British nationals not to travel to any part of the troubled east African country.

Somali gunmen killed a female radio journalist in Mogadishu, the latest in a string of reporters murdered in the war-ravaged capital, colleagues and witnesses said Monday.

Two men shot dead Rahmo Abdukadir, who worked for the private Radio Abduwaq station, late Sunday.

At least eight people were killed Monday by a car bomb in central Mogadishu in one of the bloodiest attacks in the war-ravaged capital in recent months, police said.

Security sources added that a top intelligence official was the target of the attack, and that he was wounded in the blast, although there was no immediate official confirmation.

The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday eased the arms embargo on Somalia, agreeing on a one year partial lifting of the oldest international weapons blockade to help the new government.

The 15-member council unanimously passed to a resolution allowing light arms to be sold to the Somali armed forces as they seek to rebuild and spread government authority into territory recently held by Islamist militants.