Kenyan authorities have deported more than 420 refugees who fled fighting across the border in Somalia.

The refugees fled Islamist militias driven from southern Somalia towards Kenya by Ethiopian and Somali soldiers.

International law was broken when the refugees, mostly women and children, were driven in trucks from a border camp, the UN refugee agency said.

Kenyan soldiers have sealed its border with Somalia and intensified screening to prevent militias arriving.

But the government has not formally declared the borders closed.

Meanwhile, European members of the Somali Contact group are meeting in Brussels to discuss how Europe can help peace efforts in Somalia.

The EU is the largest aid donor to Somalia and has been heavily involved in the mediation process. Those taking part will be Britain, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Germany, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf is in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, for talks with diplomats, while Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is to travel to Ethiopia on Thursday to discuss the possible deployment of Ugandan troops to Somalia.

Uganda is the only country to have made a firm commitment - of up to 1,000 soldiers - towards a planned African peacekeeping force for Somalia.

Road blocks

UNHCR spokesperson Millicent Mutuli says the Kenyan Red Cross has been denied access to the refugees who arrived in Kenya four days ago.

"We are taking up this matter with the government officials because it's against international law to deny people access to humanitarian assistance under such circumstances," said Ms Mutuli.

The BBC's Bashkash Jugsodaay in Liboi in north-east Kenya says policemen have mounted a road block on the main road leading to the refugee reception centre there - denying aid agencies and journalists access.

Our reporter says helicopters and hundreds of army and police have deployed in the border town.

Further south, near the coastal island of Lamu, more than 100 Somali refugees have also been expelled.

Pursuit

Meanwhile, Ethiopia and Somali government forces, with air support, have captured the Somali border town of Doble, where it is reported that around 4,000 refugees have been stranded.

Our reporter says that the Islamist militia who formerly held the town fled late on Tuesday night in about 100 technicals - machinegun-mounted pick-up trucks - carrying an estimated 600 to 700 fighters.

The Somali interim government's spokesman Ali Jama told AFP news agency that their forces were in pursuit of top Islamist leaders in dense border terrain.

"We are yet to pin-point where they are, but we believe they are hiding in the border forest," he said.

The Islamists say their retreat from advancing Ethiopian and Somali forces is tactical and have threatened to launch an insurgency.

Differences

The two-week advance of heavily armed Ethiopian troops ended a six-month Islamist occupation which had brought a degree of stability to large areas of formerly lawless Somalia.

Thousands of Ethiopian soldiers are set to remain in Somalia to ensure stability, but splits have emerged over when they may leave.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told MPs that he hoped his forces could withdraw within two weeks.

But the prime minister of Somalia's fragile interim government, Ali Mohamed Ghedi, says that heavily armed soldiers from Ethiopia would be needed for months.

He wants Ethiopian forces to remain in the country until peacekeepers deploy, as they have few well-trained troops and are poorly placed to maintain law and order without help.

But the presence of Ethiopian troops on Somali soil could also damage the government's attempts to win widespread support, the BBC's Karen Allen says.

As if to illustrate the divisions, the deputy prime minister in Somalia's transitional government, Hussein Aideed, has been criticized by the prime minister's spokesman after calling for unity and shared passports with Ethiopia.

A deadline of Thursday has been set for Somalis in the capital to hand in their weapons, but not one weapon has so far been handed in.

Mr Ghedi has also offered an amnesty to fleeing Islamist fighters if they give themselves up.

Photo caption

Ethiopian helicopter