Canada and the United States oppose military intervention in Somalia despite evidence the Islamic militant group al-Shabab is blocking famine relief in parts of the drought-ravaged nation that are under its control.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emerged from their first bilateral meeting on Thursday united in their approach to ending the humanitarian disaster in Somalia and responding to the Syrian regime’s violent crackdown on protesters.

“At this time, we are not contemplating military action” in Somalia, Mr. Baird said. “Obviously, both countries have experience from that.”

He was referring to the participation of Canadian and U.S. troops in the 1992-93 United Nations-sanctioned effort to clear the way for food and medical aid after the Somali government’s collapse.

The Canadian military’s reputation and morale were deeply damaged when it emerged that a Somali teenager had been beaten to death by Canadian soldiers during the mission, an incident known as the Somalia Affair. A public inquiry led to the disbanding of the elite Canadian Airborne Regiment, to which the soldiers had belonged.

With severe food shortages again threatening the lives of millions of Somalis, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Thursday that it expected famine to spread across all parts of southern Somalia in the coming six weeks and last at least until the end of the year.

But while aid is reaching Somalis at camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, and some parts of the country including the capital Mogadishu, it is blocked from huge swaths of southern and central Somalia that are controlled by the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab.

Ms. Clinton called on leaders of the Islamic militant group to “allow assistance to be delivered in an absolutely unfettered way.” She suggested outside military intervention could hamper the work of aid organizations.

“There is more than enough work for the international community to help save lives even without having to worry about the al-Shabab-controlled areas,” Ms. Clinton said. “At the end of the day, the best way to get aid into those areas is to get al-Shabab to actually care for the people.”

She added that the United States would suspend application of its so-called Patriot Act with respect to aid workers who might inadvertently provide support to al-Shabab, a terrorist group that is known to impose taxes on aid organizations seeking to enter territory it controls.

While both Canada and the United States are participating in the five-month NATO bombing campaign to protect Libyan rebels from Moammar Gadhafi’s forces, Ms. Clinton and Mr. Baird said more work is needed to line up support from other countries before tougher actions are taken against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“We need to get a much louder and more effective chorus of voices that are putting pressure on the Assad regime,” Ms. Clinton said. “We are working very hard to increase that international will.”

She reported progress, however, saying that Wednesday’s United Nations Security Council statement, which condemned the violence in Syria, “could not have happened a week ago.”

Although it blamed Mr. al-Assad for the violence, the Security Council did not call for his departure, and Ms. Clinton only reiterated the U.S. position that he “has lost the legitimacy to govern the Syrian people.”

Mr. Baird called the crackdown by the al-Assad regime, including the Syrian military’s brutal attacks on civilians this week in the city of Hama, “abhorrent” and “absolutely disgraceful.”

He added that, “regrettably, we don’t have the same amount of international support” that existed when the Security Council authorized military action in Libya in March. But Mr. Baird said Canada had worked with the United States and United Kingdom to strengthen sanctions against the al-Assad regime.

On a controversial Canadian oil project, Ms. Clinton confirmed the State Department will decide whether to approve TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline extension by the end of the year. The State Department expects a final environmental-impact statement this month on the pipeline, which is intended to expand the amount of oil from Alberta’s oil sands that can be shipped south.

“Safety of the pipeline is one of our highest priorities,” Ms. Clinton said. “We have worked diligently to make sure we have a full understanding of all of the consequences.”

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