Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said Monday he would convene an urgent regional summit to discuss the current developments in Somalia where fighting between the transitional government and Islamists threaten to engulf the entire region.

Speaking during new year celebrations in the coastal city of Mombasa, Kibaki, who is also the chairman of the seven-nation regional mediation body, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), said the summit will discuss the unfolding events in the Horn of African nation.

"As chairman of IGAD I will be convening an IGAD summit early in the new year in order to urgently discuss the unfolding events in Somalia ," he said in a televised speech.

"As a country we are also keen on experiencing regional peace and stability. It is for this reason that I wish to appeal for peace in the Horn of Africa," Kibaki said in the new year message.

However, the Kenyan leader did not give a specific date for the summit which is expected to be attended by arch-foes -- Eritrea and Ethiopia -- countries which have been accused of backing the Islamists and interim government respectively.

Kibaki's statement came as Islamic fighters abandoned early Monday the last major town they held and were seen heading south toward the Kenyan border while government forces approached slowly because of landmines.

Reports reaching here say that hundreds of gunmen, who apparently deserted from the Islamic movement, began looting the warehouses where the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC) had stored supplies, including weapons and ammunition.

Gangs skirmished in the streets and the city descended into chaos, businessman Sheik Musa Salad said.

Islamist commanders said government and Ethiopian troops, backed by tanks and trucks, had taken control of Jilib Township , about 100 kilometers north of Kismayo.

The Kenyan leader remarks also come after mediators made a failed attempt last week to ward off the latest stage of the conflict by inviting Somali Islamists to secret talks in Nairobi .

"We don't want to see people fighting, what they are fighting for. Because in the end of it all, you will see many people dead," Kibaki said.

Kenya, which mediated the convoluted peace talks that ended in the creation of the Somali interim government in 2004, faces the prospect of receiving influx Somali refugees as fierce fighting continues.

The country already plays host to about 160,000 Somali refugees fleeing the 16-year conflict in Somalia.

IGAD is an east African grouping comprising Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia itself that has been keen in seeking regional stability.

Source: Xinhua