Somalia:Somalia's Islamist leaders yesterday promised to wage war on any peacekeepers sent to defend the country's feeble government after the United Nations Security Council endorsed plans for an African force to be deployed.
The UN resolution calls for the lifting of an arms embargo so that the government can equip and train its police and armed forces.
It also paves the way for an 8,000-strong deployment of African peacekeepers.
However, Somalia's powerful Islamic courts movement believes the resolution is designed to legitimise the presence of Ethiopian troops who have dug into positions around Baidoa, where the transitional government sits.
Sheikh Abdurahim Muddey, a spokesman for the courts, said: "The decision to bring foreign troops into Somalia will spark a new crisis in Somalia. I tell you that this UN endorsement will massively increase casualty figures and the number of graves in this country.
"This resolution is one-sided and we have already made clear our position on it. Again we say that we will never accept the deployment of foreign troops."
Somalia has been without a fully functioning government for 15 years. Anarchy reigned as warlords and clan-based militias carved the country into warring territories.
That began to change last year as a network of Islamic courts became prominent in the capital, Mogadishu. They now control most of southern and central Somalia, along with ports and airstrips as well as the capital itself.
The US, in particular, fears that extremists within the movement are harbouring al-Qaeda terrorists.
Meanwhile, a transitional government established two years ago has seen its influence wane to almost nothing, although it retains the support of much of the international community who see it as the best way of stemming the rise of militant Islam. In recent weeks, the country has slipped closer to all-out war as both sides have strengthened their frontline positions close to the government seat in Baidoa.
The US-sponsored resolution, adopted unanimously on Wednesday, urges the Islamic militants to stop military expansion and join the transitional government in talks to achieve a peaceful political settlement.
John Bolton, outgoing US ambassador to the UN, said intervention was vital.
"The other option is that the instability we have seen in Somalia for over 15 years would spread to the region," he said.
But many analysts believe that sending a peacekeeping force could be enough to provoke a pre-emptive strike by the Islamists.
And it could be that the only thing stopping all-out war is the heavy rain and flooding that has wreaked havoc throughout the Horn of Africa in recent weeks.