Five of the main Somali faction leaders say they have agreed to establish a joint authority to administer the area around the capital, Mogadishu.

A statement said an accord was signed after three days of talks by Hussein Aideed, Hussein Haji Bod, Osman Ali Atto, Mohamed Qanyare Afrah and a representative of Ali Mahdi Mohamed.

Each of these warlords control a part of the capital.

The statement said the new administration would run Mogadishu's main port and airport which have been closed since United Nations peacekeepers pulled out in 1995.

Ali Mahdi, who is currently in Egypt, was represented at the talks by his deputy in the United Somalia Congress faction.

Disagreements

When the UN troops left, the warlords disagreed over the sharing of revenues from the port and airport and an attempt to set up a joint administration failed last year when some warlords refused to back the authority.

One key warlord, Musa Sudi Yalahow, who controls south-western Mogadishu and part of the northern section of the city, has once again refused to join the proposed administration.

Correspondents say the port and airport are within the range of his militiamen's artillery.

Political observers say that if the joint authority succeeds it is expected to pave the way for the resumption of Somalia's stalled national reconciliation process.

AFP news agency quoted a source as saying that Libya had pledged financial assistance to facilitate implementation of the agreement.

The nation has been without a central government since the 1991 ousting of President Mohamed Siad Barre.