Rapidly advancing Islamic militia have seized a key town in central Somalia near the border with Ethiopia, sources close to the Islamic courts confirmed on Thursday.

They said that the strategic town of Beletweyne, changed hands on Wednesday after fighting erupted between the town's previous pro-government rulers and the militia of a local Islamic court, but no casualties were reported.

"Our fighters in Beletweyne have taken over the full administration of the city. The town is now calm and residents applauded the victory of the Islamic court," a source close to a senior Islamic leader in Somalia's capital Mogadishu said by telephone.

"The governor fled and we captured one battlewagon from his fleeing forces," the source added. Located on the banks of the Shabelle River, Beletweyne is considered to be one of Somalia's breadbasket regions.

Its road provides a strategic link between the northern and southern regions of the Horn of Africa country. Residents say Beletweyne is especially important for the Islamists, as they can now move their militias and supplies from south to north without hindrance.

The militia, allied to the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts ( SCIC) that controls most of southern Somalia including Mogadishu, reportedly met little resistance in the bloodless takeover of Beletweyne.

Anxiety has gripped central Somalia as the rapidly advancing Islamic militia try to spread its influence further north.

Earlier on Wednesday, two were injured in Galkayo in a protest led by clerics who say the SCIC's brand of Islam is too militant.

Reports say the residents of the provincial town of Galkayo, 600 km northwest of the capital, are divided about whether to support the SCIC.

Galkayo borders Puntland, an effectively autonomous region believed to be against the courts.

The rapidly rising influence of the SCIC has threatened the authority of the transitional government based in Baidoa, about 250 kilometers northwest of the capital.

The Islamists, which drove out Mogadishu-based alliance of warlords reportedly supported by Washington in May this year, have shown interest in controlling other parts of Somalia, but have refuted claims that it was planning to attack Baidoa, where Ethiopian troops have been deployed to protect the fragile government.

The latest seizure of the strategic town came as embattled Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi is meeting with influential clan leaders to seek consensus on a new cabinet after the sacking of his previous bloated and non-performing government.

The consultations came after the dissolution of the fractious cabinet following Ethiopian mediation to salvage the weak transitional administration.

"The prime minister is holding consultations with clan elders and influential leaders in Somalia as well as preparing a list of the new cabinet," government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said.

On Monday, Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed announced details of the Ethiopian-mediated compromise, in which a new leaner and more efficient cabinet was to be appointed within a week with Gedi remaining at the top.

Regional analysts believe Gedi will reach out the Islamists as well as the defeated warlords in a bid to form the most inclusive government possible, although Muslim leaders have complained bitterly about Ethiopia's role.

The move follows an agreement brokered by Ethiopia on Sunday to end differences among Somalia's top leaders, which threatened the two-year-old fragile administration.

Both President Yusuf and Parliamentary Speaker Sherrif Hasssan Sheikh Adan had opposed the prime minister's move to postpone the proposed talks with rival Islamists in Khartoum, Sudan.

Political pundits have said the position of the president and the speaker could further isolate Gedi, who has suffered a string of political setbacks in the past week.

The interim cabinet originally had more than 100 members, not all of whom had been approved by parliament.

Over the past two weeks some 43 ministers quit their posts in protest at the prime minister's postponement of peace talks with the SCIC, and Gedi narrowly survived a parliamentary vote of no confidence.

Most of the departing ministers have said they oppose the presence of Ethiopian troops on Somali soil, or that they want the government to make peace with the increasingly powerful Islamists.

Analysts said the recent resignations aimed to exert pressure on the premier to reshuffle his cabinet or step down.

After the government had watched helplessly as a powerful Islamic militia seized Mogadishu, and much of southern Somalia, the Islamists renewed their opposition to Arab League-mediated peace talks unless the Ethiopian troops withdrew.

The Islamists, however, have not indicated whether they are interested in power sharing, and some fear they are bent on taking all of Somalia and imposing hardline sharia law.

The Islamic Courts have been credited with success in bringing stability since June to Mogadishu for the first time since Somalia plunged into anarchy when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.

Source: Xinhua