Somali's transitional government yesterday seized key installations across Mogadishu, including ports and seaports.

Somali government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari announced state forces had taken control of the city of Mogadishu. "We have taken control of the government bases, the buildings and the ports in Mogadishu," Dinari told Xinhua News Agency by telephone from Baidoa.

The Somali Transitional Federal Government has ramped up hunting for the members of the Union of Islamic Courts and that Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi is preparing to take full control of the city.

Gedi, who celebrated the recapture of Mogadishu on Thursday with a visit to his hometown of Afgoye for the first time in four years, was expected to formally settle down in Mogadishu today.

He spent most of Thursday afternoon meeting traditional elders in the town of Balad, on the main highway toward Mogadishu, planning the capital’s formal takeover.

He said ruling the city would become tougher after the departure of the allied Ethiopian forces who have helped his government back to Mogadishu.

UN humanitarian officials in Somalia said yesterday food prices were escalating because the fighting had interrupted the flow of commodities as well as displacing many Somalis.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2006)