Aidid's faction claimed that it was in fact Ethiopian government troops who had captured Baidoa after attacking the south-central town with armoured vehicles and other modern weaponry with their warplanes flying overhead, but this claim could not be confirmed independently.

Other sources said several hundred Ethiopian rebels in the Oromo Liberation Front fought alongside Aidid's troops in Baidoa.

The Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA), which told AFP by telephone that it was in control of Baidoa, rejected a ceasefire call by Aidid's arch rival Osman Hassan Ali "Atto" and several other factions.

"The RRA will continue fighting against militiamen of Hussein Mohamed Aidid until the land taken by his people in the Lower Shabelle and parts of Banadir (Mogadishu) region is recovered," said RRA spokesman Mohamed Aden Qalinle. He criticised those calling for a truce for not speaking out against Aidid's four-year occupation of Baidoa.

He complained that Osman Atto was calling for a ceasefire only after the RRA's "overwhelming victory" in Baidoa. "We cannot allow our rival to reinforce his war machine in Baidoa," said Qalinle. "Aidid's men wanted to borrow time to recover from battle losses," he added.

Sunday's fighting in Baidoa was the fiercest and the biggest military setback for Aidid's faction since it seized the town and surrounding areas from the local Rahanwein clans in 1995, militia sources said. The RRA claimed that it had killed 40 of Aidid's fighters, captured more than 100 others and destroyed or seized 32 of his armed trucks.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people belonging to the Rahanwein clans have fled south Mogadishu after Aidid's supporters started raiding displaced people's camps and beating members of the community, witnesses reported.

This was contained in a communique issued at the end of a three-day Ethio-Kenyan joint border committee meeting in Nazareth, some 90 kms southeast of Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian News Agency reported.

The 18th panel meeting expressed its concern over the "subversive activities of some disgruntled terrorist elements, specifically the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), along the border that are engaged in undermining the peace and security of both countries."

In this regard, the statement said, the panel noted with appreciation the concrete measures that are being taken by the Kenyan government to flush out OLF insurgents and curb their illegal activities.

According to the communique, the joint committee has underscored the danger posed by international terrorism to peace and stability of the sub-region, and emphasized the need for both countries to be more vigilant and cooperate in combating the menace.

The panel meeting held extensive deliberations on border security and cooperation, including border meetings, illegal movement of people, trafficking of arms across the border, review of radio communication and cooperation on anti-terrorism. Immigration matters, refugee issues, border inspection and maintenance as well as cross-border transportation have also been discussed at the meeting.

The Kenyan delegation was led by Maurice Makhanu, Provincial Commissioner of North Eastern Province while the Ethiopian delegation was headed by Alemseged GYohannes, Deputy Commissioner of the Federal Police.

Libyan state radio, monitored in Tunis, said Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki made the pledge in a telephone conversation with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

``Afewerki confirmed that Eritrean observers were to arrive in (the Libyan capital) Tripoli en route to join Libyan observers already deployed between Uganda and the DRC,'' the radio said.

It said African observers were also to deploy between the DRC and Rwanda. It did not say when.

The moves followed an accord signed last month in Libya by DRC's President Laurent Kabila and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni that called for a cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of all foreign troops and the deployment of an African peacekeeping force in the Great Lakes region.

Burundi's President Pierre Buyoya expressed support for the accord during talks last weekend in Libya with Gaddafi, the radio said.

Other African countries Libya says are to provide peacekeeping forces to implement the accord are Namibia, Eritrea, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

Rwanda and Uganda both sent troops to the Congo to back rebels who took up arms against Kabila last August and now control part of the east of the country.