Fighting shakes Somali government

Mogadishu: Blasts from tanks, artillery and mortars shook the Somali government's headquarters on Sunday, as troops fired on positions held by Islamic militants just south of Mogadishu.

It was not immediately clear who started the fighting, or whether there were any casualties.

The militants, who want to govern Somalia according to the Islamic law, invited foreign Muslims on Saturday to join their holy war against Ethiopian troops.

"Muslims are brothers and help each other," Sheik Yusuf Indahaadde, national security chairman for the Council of Islamic Courts, said on Saturday. "We have a right to call our brothers and sisters to help us in this holy war."

The Islamic council has vowed to drive out troops from neighboring Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation that is providing military support to Somalia's UN-backed government.

Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said that his government will "defend the people it is responsible for and Somali sovereignty" and said the Islamic fighters should return to negotiations.