Kenyan police have detained a Somali minister and two members of parliament for fighting and destroying property at a Kenyan hotel during a parliamentary session.
The fight on Thursday broke out after legislators voted against the president's call to deploy peacekeepers from bordering countries to restore order in the lawless state. Television footage showed several MPs in suits and ties throwing heavy chairs at each other, some beating others with long sticks and others drenched in blood after being struck on the head.
Somalia has been carved up into territories run by rival warlords since 1991. A transitional federal government was formed in neighbouring Kenya last year and is trying to establish itself inside Somalia.
Commerce Minister Muse Sudi Yalahow and lawmakers Hussein Araale Adow and Maalim Jiis were arrested after fellow members of parliament filed a complaint with the police.
Police said the three were likely to be charged with causing harm and destruction of hotel property.
Plans by the African Union to deploy peacekeepers from Kenya, Djibouti and traditional rival Ethiopia have sparked an angry reaction from many Somalis, including warlords and militant Islamists who have promised to attack the troops.
Ethiopian-backed Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf wants 7,500 AU and Arab League troops to help his government return home from Kenya, and is adamant border states be included.
The constitutional standoff in the interim government was potentially defused yesterday when East African peacemakers decided to send troops to Somalia from countries that do not border it.