Somali PM says parliament to declare martial law

MOGADISHU, Dec 28 (Reuters) Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamad Gedi today said the country's parliament will declare martial law on Saturday for a period of three months.

''This country has experienced anarchy and in order to restore security we need a strong hand, especially with freelance militias,'' he told reporters in Mundul Sharey, his home village, some 40 km southwest of Mogadishu.

It was Gedi's first visit to his village since 2002 and came hours after Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces pushed Islamist fighters out of the capital they had controlled for six months.

Reuters SBA VP0307