A Somali lawmaker on Saturday welcomed the United States initiative to convene an international meeting next week on political developments in Somalia, barely a week after Islamists seized control of the Somali capital from alliance of warlords.

Awad Ashara, a member of Somali parliament said the planned meeting in New York was 'timely' and is a 'positive gesture' towards reconciling the warring parties who have been fighting for power in the Horn of African nation.

"On behalf of Somalia lawmakers we welcome the United States initiative to convene an international meeting to support Somalia's transitional institutions. We hope the planned meeting may end the latest upsurge in violence in Mogadishu and subsequent others, " Ashara told Xinhua.

The United States government said on Friday it was inviting on short notice European and African countries to a meeting in New York next week on ways to deal with gains by Islamic militias in Somalia.

The Bush administration said the next meeting of the "Somalia Contact Group," which had long expressed concern inside the administration that a policy largely restricted to counter- terrorism priorities might prove counterproductive, will take place in New York next week.

"The goal of this group is to promote concerted action and coordination to support the Somalia transitional federal institutions, and so we are going to be working with other interested states and international organizations on this matter," said the United States official.

The swiftness with which the meeting is being convened reflected concern among the global community about the tightening grip of the militias on Mogadishu and other population centers in Somalia.

"The Americans who have been accused of backing the Mogadishu warlords are now on the right track. They have now indicated their moral obligation in the international issues," Ashara said in Nairobi, Kenya's capital.

The gathering in New York will mark the inaugural meeting of what will become a permanent mechanism under which interested nations will attempt to devise common strategies toward the troubled East African country.

Earlier this week, the Bush administration indicated that it was open to discussions with the Islamists as long as they were prepared to seek a peaceful resolution and pledged not to allow Somalia to become an al-Qaeda haven.

Analysts say the decision by the United States to launch the multinational diplomatic initiative reflects a lack of immediately viable options in Somalia short of overt military engagement, and it appears to indicate a further resurgence of the State Department's voice in foreign policymaking under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The United States officials said the contact group will be open to "interested parties" from governments and international organizations, and suggested, "the UN would want to participate in this."

The United States concern about the triumph of the Islamic militias has been heightened by the presence of what the State Department calls "foreign terrorists" in the militia ranks.

The Islamic radicals seized control of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Monday, defeating warlords in weeks of fighting that left more than 350 people dead.

UN officials said that Washington had provided few details on the initiative but that the proposed timing coincides with the return from Somalia of Francois Lonseny Fall, the UN envoy who met with different factions this week.

The United States Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs, Jendayi E.Frazer will head the a delegation at next week's meeting.

Ashara said the Washington's initiative would help boost the ongoing talks between the transitional federal government and Islamic Courts Union.

The lawmaker said the government hopes to "work out voluntary disarmament" between the Islamists and the warlord-led militias.

"The government will in the coming days be sending cabinet members, lawmakers as well as influential traditional elders to Mogadishu," Ashara said.

"They will try to achieve reconciliation between the Islamic courts and the other groups," he added.

The interim government has welcomed the defeat of the alliance of warlords viewed as undermining it, and its ministers have met members of the Islamic Court Union in Mogadishu.

The defeat of the Mogadishu-based warlords was viewed as a setback for United States policy in the region and the Bush administration is seeking ways of tackling the Horn of Africa nation, which it fears could become a haven for terrorists.

But the State Department said Somalia's warring groups were unlikely to attend the New York talks, but the invitation list was not finished.

Source: Xinhua