Somalia's powerful Hawiye clan on Sunday announced it was beginning a truce with Ethiopian troops to end four days of fighting, which have left dozens dead and hundreds wounded in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

"After the carnage, destruction, the massive displacing subjected to civilians and the property destroyed for the last few days, we have decided to cease fire from 2 PM today, April 1, 2007, all over the capital," said a statement released by Hawiye clan elders.

The clan's elders then asked the Ethiopian government to also announce it would abide by the ceasefire, although no such confirmation has been forthcoming. 

In order to allow displaced civilians to return to their homes, the statement also calls upon Ethiopian troops to withdraw from the areas they moved into during the violence.

Ahmed Diriye, a Hawiye clan spokesman, did reveal that the ceasefire had been initiated by Ethiopian officials, offering to hold talks after violence had abated. 

On Sunday, the truce appeared to be in effect across most of the city, although the sounds of shelling and small-arms fire could still be heard intermittently. Medical sources at Medina Hospital revealed that Sunday's fighting claimed seven and wounded 12.

The ceasefire came about after four days of ferocious fighting between Hawiye clan fighters and Ethiopian and Somali government troops. The International Committee of the Red Cross labeled the last few days of combat as the worst violence since the overthrow of former ruler Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

The Ethiopian-backed transitional government, fresh from its successful campaign against the Islamists in December last year, has blamed the daily strife on remnants of the defeated movement, still operating around Mogadishu under protection of the traditional clans.

Hawiye leaders have refuted these claims, saying they are responsible for the recent attacks which they view as a defense measure in response to President Abdullahi Yusuf's attempts to disarm them.

Yusuf's government has vowed to successfully quell violence in Mogadishu ahead of the national reconciliation congress, set to be held there on April 16.

Back in 1991, warlords united to oust former ruler Mohamed Siad Barre but were unable to maintain their alliance and turned on each other, plunging their nation into anarchy ever since.

The transitional government was formed in 2004 with UN help, but with no real army or police presence, has had few methods to impose its authority.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2007)