The Islamists now control Mogadishu, Somalia's biggest city, and have access to the country's best ports and airfields, and apparently a pipeline of weapons.

Many residents now say they were better off under the Islamist administration, which briefly controlled Mogadishu last year until the Ethiopian troops invaded.

At first it only controlled the area of north Mogadishu, but it gained support from many Somali's following the random violence committed by the warlords who controlled southern Mogadishu.

The United Somali Congress, a guerrilla group based on the Hawiye clan, controls Mogadishu and its surrounding area.

Since then, the United Somali Congress, a group dominated by the Hawiye tribe, has controlled Mogadishu and the central region of Somalia.

According to United Nations officials, the Islamist clerics who control Mogadishu, Somalia's battle-scarred seaside capital, launched an offensive on two fronts against the transitional government's forces.

In 2005, they estimated that "there are 11-15,000 militia people controlling Mogadishu (out of national estimates ranging from 50,000 to 200,000).

The previous speaker was ousted last month after he tried to broker a peace treaty between the transitional government and the Islamist movement that used to control Mogadishu.

Mohamed Roble had taken part in their battle to control Mogadishu, and had the support of the ICU leadership.

Gen. Mohammed Farrah Aidid controls southern Mogadishu, and Mohammed Ali Mahdi controls the northern part of the city.