Somalia has been without a recognised central government since the collapse of Mohamed Siad Barre's regime in January 1991.
Recent attempts to establish a new authority, based in the capital Mogadishu, have had mixed results. And much power still lies with armed factions and warlords who are notorious for switching allegiance.
An idea on widening the TNG to include opposition warlords in a national unity cabinet received little backing in December 2001. The TNG controls only parts of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and pockets elsewhere in Somalia.
The Somalia peace process is a result of the involvement of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development - IGAD - which is made up of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan and Somalia.
He is allied to the southern-based Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM).
A former army commander and son-in-law of Siad Barre, he became known as the "Butcher of Hargeisa" in the late 1980s when he conducted military operations against Somali National Movement (SNM) rebels in northern Somalia.
Morgan is also supported by Ethiopia.
It now suits Ethiopia to have a chaotic and fragmented country without a proper national government on its south-eastern border. The population of the Ogaden - Ethiopia's "Zone Five" - consists largely of ethnic Somalis and the region is a source of opposition to the Ethiopian Government.
Ethiopia is worried about the possible spread of Islamic fundamentalism in the Horn of Africa.
In recent years, Addis Ababa has intervened quietly in Somalia's internal affairs to keep Somalia weak and divided.
There is general agreement that this Ethiopian influence has increased over the past year or so, with activity around Baidoa in the south and in Puntland in the north-east.
In January 2002, the TNG said Ethiopia had sent troops across the border into Somalia to train militia groups opposed to it.
Somalia's transitional government also said that 70 Ethiopian officers had been despatched to Puntland in support of the ousted leader, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
Ethiopia denies these claims.
The overall situation is further complicated by the fact that the United States acknowledges that some of its military intelligence comes from Ethiopia.