MOGADISHU, Somalia - The dominant clan in Somalia's capital held talks with the Ethiopian military in a bid to prevent further bloodshed in Mogadishu, which remained calm for a second day Tuesday after fighting left nearly 400 people dead.
U.S., European, Arab and African diplomats also were meeting in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to try and get the warring parties to end the fighting, the worst seen in the capital in 15 years.
The International Contact Group on Somalia conference in Cairo will discuss how the world can help the transitional government restore law and order, Foreign Minister Ismael Hurreh said.
"The most important issue on the table is the security in the country," he told The Associated Press by telephone from the Egyptian capital.
Even by Somalia's bloody standards, the violence has been intense. Rotting corpses litter the tiny, dusty alleyways and back streets in the south of the capital where much of the fighting took place.
"We are discussing the cease-fire and how to strengthen it," Ahmed Diriye, spokesman for the influential Hawiye clan that dominates the ruined coastal capital, said of the talks with Ethiopian military leaders.
Some 565 people have been wounded during four days of heavy fighting. Ethiopian troops used tanks and attack helicopters in an offensive to crush insurgents linked to an Islamic group driven from power in December.
At least 36 Ethiopian soldiers were killed and 48 wounded in the fighting, said a Somali official on condition of anonymity because it related to security matters. The official saw them being taken off two military helicopters at Dolow airport, 317 miles west of Mogadishu and on the border with Ethiopia.
The fighting has hindered aid agencies from responding adequately, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Somalia said.
"Trapped by the fighting, many wounded are unable to access medical facilities and lie unattended in the streets," the statement said.
Somalis poured out of the city on foot, using donkey carts, cars and trucks, joining the exodus of 47,000 people -- mainly women and children -- who have sought safety in the last 10 days, according to the UN refugee agency. Almost 100,000 people have fled the violence since February.
The insurgents are linked to the Council of Islamic Courts, which was driven from power in December by Somali and Ethiopian soldiers, accompanied by U.S. special forces. The U.S. has accused the courts of having ties to al Qaeda.
The militants have long rejected any secular government and have sworn to fight until Somalia becomes an Islamic emirate.
The country has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned against each other. A national government was established in 2004, but has failed to assert any real control.
