State of emergency declared

Baidoa, Somalia: Somalia's parliament declared on Saturday a state of emergency for three months to restore security in the Horn of Africa country after several weeks of war ousted rival Islamists.

Members of parliament passed the vote in the government's interim seat of Baidoa - its home until Ethiopian and Somali troops defeated Islamists who had controlled much of the south.

"A three-month state of emergency has been passed. If 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.

Parliament's approval allows the government to impose martial law for a period of three months, starting at a time of its choosing, said Boqore, who made the announcement during a parliament session broadcast live on a government-owned radio station.

Boqore said 154 members of Somalia's transitional parliament voted by a show of hands in favor of a government motion to impose martial law in the country. He said two lawmakers voted against the motion.

The session took place in the southern Somali town of Baidoa. The remainder of Somalia's 275 lawmakers were not present during the session and were either in the capital, Mogadishu, or in neighboring Kenya or elsewhere.

"After long debate on this issue, most of the MPs have voted in favor, so that law has been passed by parliament," Boqore told the lawmakers.

On Tuesday, Information Minister Ali Ahmad Jama tabled a motion to allow the government to impose martial law for three months, arguing that the measure was necessary because of the insecurity in the country.

Lawmakers opposed to the motion said too many people have arms in Somalia and it would be dangerous to impose martial law in such a situation.

Prime Minister Ali Mohammad Gedi said in late December that three months of a state of emergency were necessary to impose order after Ethiopian troops, planes and tanks helped Somali government forces end six months of Islamist rule.

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.

Government troops and allied Ethiopian soldiers have begun house to house searches for weapons near Mogadishu's main airport.

The vote came hours after Ethiopian-backed government forces captured a southern Islamist stronghold. Many fugitive Islamists were believed to be holed up in the coastal village of Ras Kamboni near the Kenyan border after fleeing south.