ANOTHER CONFLICT COULD START AGAIN.

Somali leader plans war, MPs say.

Somalia remains in the grip of gunmen. Somalia's president is planning to start an internal war with Ethiopian help, a group of rebel MPs has said. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has just returned from a trip to Ethiopia, his long-time ally, but officials have denied that he sought military assistance there. The MPs, who include ministers and former warlords led by the speaker of parliament, accuse Mr Yusuf of treason. There has been a growing rift between the rebel MPs and Mr Yusuf since the government was set up last year. Mr Yusuf's election was supposed to end 13 years of conflict.

"We are appealing to the international community, African Union and the United Nations to keep eyes on the Ethiopian flagrant intervention into Somali affairs," said a statement issued on behalf of the MPs based in the capital, Mogadishu. They accused Mr Yusuf of planning to send troops to the Hiiraan, Bakool and Bai regions of central Somalia. This was strongly denied by Deputy Information Minister Salad Ali Jeele.

He said the president went to Ethiopia to have talks with traditional elders and politicians from Hiiran region in central Somalia as a confidence building measure. Mr Yusuf is based in Jowhar while his rivals are based in Mogadishu, which he says is too dangerous to host a government. In addition to the location of the capital, the two sides also disagree on whether foreign peacekeepers are needed in Somalia. Mr Yusuf wants them - even Ethiopians who are distrusted by many Somalis. But the rebel MPs say peacekeepers are not necessary. Last month, Mr Yusuf said he was moving from his northern stronghold of Puntland to Jowhar and would recruit militia forces as he went to join a new army. Somalia has not had a functioning government since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991, and 13 previous attempts to end the anarchy have failed.

Correspondents say there are fears that this peace process could also be on the brink of collapse.