KISMAYO, Somalia - Top government leaders including interim President Abdullahi Yusuf have spoken publicly about the port city of Kismayo, which was seized by a coalition of clan fighters and Islamist guerrillas last month.

President Yusuf told the VOA Somali Service on Monday that "no group" independent of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) can have troops inside the country, while indicating that Islamists took control of Kismayo from clan militias and not from the TFG.

Yusuf Omar Azhari, the Somali President's political adviser, told the BBC Somali Service during an interview that Islamists "will not be allowed" to keep control of Kismayo.

Mr. Azhari did not have convincing answers as to why the TFG did not address the Kismayo issue when clan militias loyal to warlord Barre Hirale expelled the TFG-appointed local government and supporting troops in April 2007.

"The TFG will take steps on Kismayo by cooperating with local clans...to expel the invaders, whether they are the [Islamic] Courts or al Shabaab," Mr. Azhari said.

But Mr. Abdirisak Ashkir, the country's reconciliation minister, told a Mogadishu press conference today that "a clan alliance" invaded Kismayo.

Minister Ashkir, who belongs to the same clan as ousted warlord Hirale, said the Somali government will "even use foreign troops to retake Kismayo."

He condemned Islamist fighters for violating the Djibouti Agreement, which called for a ceasefire, while suggesting that the Islamists had no right to attack Kismayo because the southern port was under the control of clan militias, and that there were no Ethiopian or Somali government troops present.

It is not clear why TFG officials are speaking out on Kismayo after 16 months of neglecting the town, which was ruled by anti-government militias loyal to warlord Hirale.

Sources in Kismayo tell Garowe Online that the town is calm and safe, while adding that local clans united under the banner of the Islamic Courts movement to liberate the port town from warlord Hirale and his militias.

Much of Somalia is under the control of Islamists, including the town of Bal'ad, which is located 30km north of Mogadishu.

Further, Middle Shabelle region and its capital, Jowhar, has been governed by Islamists for months and TFG officials have not addressed this issue.

Source: Garowe Online