Somali parliament declares state of emergency

Somalia's parliament declared yesterday a three-month state of emergency amid fears of a return to clan violence after weeks of war ousted Islamists.

Members of parliament in the government's interim seat of Baidoa - its home until Ethiopian and Somali troops defeated Islamists who controlled much of the south, voted 154 to two to ratify Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi's plan to restore order.

The government, which is seeking to install itself in the capital Mogadishu, faces a huge challenge to bring peace and security to the Horn of Africa nation, which has been without effective central rule since the 1991 ouster of a dictator.

"A three-month state of emergency has been passed. If the need arises for the government to extend the period then the president will have to ask parliament for approval," second deputy speaker Osman Elmi Boqore told parliament.

The law prohibits demonstrations and bans possession of weapons. "The president has powers to announce a decree on how the state of emergency can be implemented," a parliamentary statement said.

President Abdullahi Yusuf called on clan elders and warlords to hand over militia for a new national army. The warlords had already agreed to merge their forces into such a force.

"You have to hand them over to the government and we will train them as government security officers, such as police and military," he said. "As we can see, the guerilla war that the Islamists talked about is starting."

Some fleeing Islamists have vowed to continue fighting and Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu have been attacked several times.