The United Nations monitoring team in Somalia meeting here warned of a possible escalation in fighting in the Horn of Africa country, and urged Somalis to abide by the arms embargo.

The meeting, bringing together UN organizations and other internationa bodies working in Somalia, warned Somalis against any form of aggression.

UN special envoy for Somalia Francois Fall said the organizations working in Somalia have been concerned over certain developments inside Somalia including the reported inflow of weapons and an increase in the general level of tension.

The international community calls the attention of all Somali leaders as well as regional and other countries to the 1992 UN arms embargo on Somalia and recalls declarations by all Somali leaders in Kenya to avoid arms as a solution to differences, a communique issued after the meeting in Nairobi Tuesday said. The international community demands a halt to the supply and the delivery and reception of arms and calls for the respect of the arms embargo.

"We call on all leaders in Somalia to exercise maximum restraint and take effective steps to reduce tension. Any resort to military force will be unacceptable to the international community as the means for dealing with the current differences within the Transitional Federal Institutions," Fall warned.

"The international community welcomes the completion of the relocation of the Transitional Federal Institutions into Somalia and the reconciliatory tone of the Prime Minister Ali Gedi's speech on the Somali national day as well as the leadership shown by Somalia leaders in opening dialogue among themselves," the communique said.

"We urge Somali leaders to continue to work towards dialogue and understanding within the framework of the TFIs," it said.

The Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) had asked the African Union to lobby the UN Security Council to lift the arms ban to allow the deployment of peacekeepers.

But the Somali transitional government relocated in June without the 7,500 troops it requested for the stabilization of the country.

Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when the administration of Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled. The transitional government was formed after two years of peace process in Nairobi that brought together factional leaders, elders, civil society representatives, and others to work out how to end almost 15 years of war. Enditem