The Somalian government has reached a truce agreement with Mogadishu's dominant clan in an attempt to reduce fighting between the two in the capital.
Hawiye clan elders met Ali Mohamed Gedi, the Somalian prime minister, on Monday in Mogadishu, where government backed-forces have been repeatedly targeted by fighters, including clan members.
Gedi said: "We agreed a truce and we agreed that we do something about their complaints... We agreed we work together against anyone carrying out violence."
Some Hawiye fighters had supported the Islamic Courts' Union against government troops and Ethiopian forces earlier this year.
Gedi said the clan leaders would now work with his administration to take on the fighters.
Shared responsibility
Ahmed Diriye, a Hawiye spokesman, told Reuters that the interim government and fighters both had a responsibility to end the violence.
"If the truce gets enforced, I do hope that all people who have political agendas on their mind, opposing the government, will compromise with it," he said.
Responding to accusations that government troops have been heavy-handed in their hunt for fighters, Gedi called on army officers to control their men.
Gedi's government - the 14th attempt to introduce central rule in Somalia - has struggled to impose its authority in the face of roadside bombings, grenade attacks and assassinations.
But Mogadishu has been relatively calm in recent days, and the outcome of Gedi's meeting with the clan leaders was eagerly anticipated by many war-weary residents.