NAIROBI -- The factions fighting for control of the Somali capital Mogadishu agreed to an immediate cease-fire, official Radio Somalia said Tuesday.
The radio said tribal elders, government officials and representatives of the rebel United Somali Congress agreed to an immediate break in the hostilities that overwhelmed the capital late in December.
The USC, one of several anti-government groups fighting in Somalia, penetrated Mogadishu on Dec. 28 and hundreds of people died in random government and rebel killings in the ensuing anarchy.
Tens of thousands have fled the Horn of Africa nation to neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya.
Western diplomats in Nairobi said it was impossible to verify whether the cease-fire had actually been implemented because all western aid agencies and embassies left Mogadishu 10 days ago.
But the diplomats said they feared the capital is too anarchic for a cease-fire to be effective, with President Siad Barre's Special Military Police out of control on the streets and little sign of effective rebels coordination.
