Ethiopian-backed Somali government troops have taken over control of the Somali's capital's port and airport.

Some protesters threw stones as convoys passed into Mogadishu, but after shots were fired into the air their way was uninterrupted and other people cheered.

Interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamad Ghedi has entered the city, according to reports. He has declared a three-month period of martial law.

But a leader of the Islamists who fled says they will never leave Somalia.

Several thousand militiamen loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which ruled Mogadishu and much of Somalia for the last six months, abandoned the city to go to their last stronghold in the port of Kismayo, 500 km (300 miles) to the south.

Ethiopian jets have flown low over the town.

Defiant

The BBC's Mohamed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says thousands of troops were escorting the government's deputy defense minister, Salad Ali Jelle, around the city.

He negotiated the transfer of key installations such as the port and main airport to the government.

The troops have already taken control of the UIC's headquarters in the north and the former US embassy compound in the south.

Journalists photographing the troops arrival had their digital cameras' memory cards confiscated.

Mr Ghedi has been holding talks with clan leaders on the outskirts of to agree other arrangements for taking over the capital.

Until now, the transitional administration he leads has been based in the central town of Baidoa.

"This country has experienced anarchy and in order to restore security we need a strong hand, especially with freelance militias," he said.

There have been reports of gunfire and looting since Islamist forces left.

But ahead of the Eid holiday, our correspondent says the city is quiet.

People went to Friday prayers as normal in the morning.

Speaking from Kismayo, UIC a leader said they would fight on, although they are reported to have sustained heavy loses.

"We will not leave Somalia. We will not run away from our enemies," Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed told AP news agency.

Heavy losses

Meanwhile, Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin has flown by helicopter to Baidoa for talks.

He said the situation in Somalia was stable and very promising.

The African Union has called for Ethiopian forces, who launched a large-scale offensive in support of the government over the weekend, to leave Somalia.

The United Nations Security Council failed to agree on a statement calling for the withdrawal of all foreign forces.

The UN says its aid flights are due to resume on Saturday, after being suspended during the past week because of the fighting.

Much of Somalia faces food shortages because of recent heavy floods.

The UN estimates that about 30,000 people have been displaced during the fighting and causalities have been high.

""Hundreds of young people have been killed in the last few days," Eric Laroche, co-ordinator of the UN's civilian and humanitarian programs in Somalia, told the BBC's Network Africa program.

"There have been 800 people hospitalized from both sides, but particularly from the Islamic side."

Uniting force

The UIC assumed control of the capital in June, driving warlords out and rapidly extending their influence to much of southern Somalia

Some analysts say the UIC's popularity stemmed from their ability to transcend clan enmities that have bedeviled Somalia since the overthrow of former President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Almost all Somalis are Muslim, and after years of lawlessness many were happy to have some kind of law and order under the UIC.

But some are wary of the hardliner elements among the UIC.

The UIC have staged public executions and floggings of people they have found guilty of crimes such as murder and selling drugs.

UIC leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys is accused by both Ethiopia and the US of having links to al-Qaeda - charges he denies.

Photo Caption

Somali government troops