Somalia's new MPs attacked on arrival in Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, Somalia (Reuters) -- About 100 members of Somalia's new parliament came under heavy fire from freelance militiamen on Wednesday as they flew into Mogadishu in a step towards restoring central government after almost a decade of anarchy.

One gunmen was killed and nine people, most of them civilians, were wounded when the parliamentarians' convoy was attacked outside a hotel in the capital.

The convoy was being escorted by 25 battlewagons -- converted trucks loaded with militiamen and mounted with anti-aircraft guns.

But a group of freelance gunmen ambushed them as they approached the hotel on Wednesday afternoon, sparking an intense exchange of fire.

None of the parliamentarians were injured.

They flew into the Somali capital from the neighboring Red Sea state of Djibouti, where the 245-member parliament was set up in August as part of a peace conference bringing together representatives from Somalia's rival clans.

Clan warlords in Mogadishu have vowed to stop the parliament and the president it elected from taking office.

But Wednesday's attack was apparently launched by freelance militiamen who had wanted to be part of the security team protecting the parliamentarians in the convoy and at the hotel.

The man killed in the gunfire was one of the attackers.

Somalia's new president, Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, is expected to name his cabinet and also fly to Mogadishu in the next few days.

There are fears of fresh fighting but Abdiqassim Salad is backed by militia forces loyal to prominent businessmen and Islamic clerics.

His backers say he needs to start work soon.

"The longer he stays away from Mogadishu, the more difficult it will be for him," one told Reuters this week.

Mogadishu has been destroyed during the last ten years and there are few public buildings left standing.

The remaining members of the parliament are expected to arrive in the next few days, but it is not clear when or where they will hold their first sessions.

"It may be a hotel, under trees, in a stadium, anywhere," said another aide to the president. "It is not the venue that counts. What matters is the meeting itself."

Somalia fell apart after the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in early 1991 with clan militias dividing the country up into rival fiefdoms.

A dozen peace initiatives involving the clan warlords all failed, but the peace conference which began in Djibouti in May has brought a new sense of optimism to the country.

But even if Abdiqassim Salad manages to win over or isolate Mogadishu's warlords, he faces huge challenges in dealing with the northern regions of Somaliland and Puntland, which have set up their own governments and refused to recognize his.

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