Nearly 200 government troops have defected to Somalia's powerful Islamic movement, an Islamic official said, as a tense standoff between the two sides threatened to erupt into a regional war.
Sheik Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal, head of the Islamic court in the Al-Bayan region, said the troops defected late on Saturday.
The region is about 80km from Baidoa, the only town the government controls.
``They are ready to be incorporated into the Islamic courts forces,'' Bilal said by telephone on Sunday.
The government denied the allegations.
"No government troops defected to Islamic courts. The government has 6,000 strong soldiers who are well trained and well disciplined," deputy defense minister Salad Ali Jelle said.
Tension has been mounting in recent weeks between the government, which has international recognition but little actual authority, and the Council of Islamic Courts, which controls most of southern Somalia.
The US has said the Islamic movement has links to al-Qaeda, an accusation Islamic leaders have repeatedly denied.
The Islamic Courts movement has vowed to launch a holy war starting today unless Ethiopian troops supporting the government leave Somalia.
Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation, fears the emergence of a neighboring Islamic state and has acknowledged sending military advisers -- though not a fighting force -- to help the government.
Meanwhile, two journalists were detained without charge by Islamic forces while trying to board a plane at Mogadishu's airport on Sunday, the National Union of Somali Journalists said.
The security forces seized on of the reporters' passport and computer before taking the men to an undisclosed location, said union official Abdirashid Deylka said.
Islamic courts spokesman Abdirahin Ali Mudey said he had no immediate details on the case.
Somalia has not had an effective government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, plunging the country into chaos.
The government was formed in 2004 with the help of the UN, but it has struggled to assert its authority in the face of the increasingly powerful Islamic council.
Experts fear the conflict in Somalia could engulf the volatile Horn of Africa. A recent UN report said 10 nations have been sending weapons to the warring sides.
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