The United Nations independent expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia Ghanim Alnajjarwill visit the Horn of Africa nation this weekend for a 13-day tsunami fact-finding mission, according to a UN statement available here Thursday.

Alnajjar will tour Somalia's tsunami-stricken regions, meet with a variety of diplomats, local authorities, civil society representatives and international organizations in different regions of Somalia, said the statement from the Somalia Office of the United Nations Development Program.

"Though much has been done to support the Somalis affected by the tsunami, I urge the international community to remain steadfastly engaged with the nascent Somali transitional federal institutions in other sectors," Alnajjar was quoted as saying.

"It is imperative that we all seize this opportune time to build institutions of integrity that ensure the rights of each andevery Somali are protected," he added.

While in Somalia, the independent expert's two-person team willlook into a variety of issues related to human rights, including rights of women, prison conditions, de-militarization, economic, social and cultural rights, civil society and the effects of the recent tsunami which hit northeastern Somalia, said the statement.

This is Alnajjar's fourth annual fact-finding visit to Somalia since being appointed independent expert for Somalia by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in June 2001.