Somalia's prime minister has ordered all aid agencies operating in the country to register with the government or leave.
A spokesman for the prime minister, Abdulkadir Walayo, said the government will protect aid workers who register, but said it will not be liable for the safety of those who fail to sign up.
Kidnappings of foreign aid workers by armed groups are frequent in Somalia.
The spokesman did not provide details on what registration would involve and had no specifics on how the Somali government planned to provide security for registered aid organizations.
The government controls very little of the countryside where humanitarian agencies do most of their work.
The hardline al-Shabab militant group and related Islamic groups control much of the country after a two year long insurgency.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
