Somali government urges Islamists to hand over arms

Somalia's interim government has called on Islamist gunmen, who seized Mogadishu from an alliance of warlords, to hand over their weapons in the hope a disarmament would allow lawmakers to return to the capital.

Militia loyal to sharia courts wrested control of Mogadishu on Monday from a self-styled anti-terrorism coalition of warlords, widely believed to be backed by Washington, after a three-month battle that killed 350 people.

The government has welcomed the defeat of the warlords, who many blame for undermining it, and is in talks with Islamic leaders to persuade them to support the administration.

So far the government, formed in late 2004 in the relative security of Kenya, has failed to assert any real authority over the country.

Diplomats say it is too early to tell whether the Islamic militia, which controls much of southern Sudan, will help install the government in Mogadishu or set up a rival authority.

One Western diplomat, who did not want to be named, said attention was focused on the intentions of Ethiopia - Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf's main foreign sponsor and the Horn of Africa's top military power.

Somalia's big, nominally Christian-led neighbour, is wary of overt Islamist influence in the region.

Residents in the last warlord stronghold of Jowhar said the situation was tense but calm after Islamist militia advanced on the town 90 km north of Mogadishu on Friday.

However, a clash at a checkpoint in Baidoa between local militiamen and guards loyal to Yusuf prompted him to move extra forces from Wajid to the provincial town, residents and local journalists said.

The Islamist victory in Mogadishu has prompted Washington to call for an international meeting with officials from the United Nations, European and African countries to discuss strategy on the state of 10 million people.

In Mogadishu, Islamist forces threatened to use force to drive out warlords still holed up in the city scarred by months of battle waged with mortars and anti-aircraft guns.