Top Somali Islamic leader surrenders to Kenyan police: official

Asenior leader of Somalia's Islamic movementhasgiven himself upto authorities after crossing into Kenya, officials said Monday.

Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, considered a religious moderate, was apprehended byauthorities and taken to Nairobi, where he is being held under guard in a hotel, according to Kenyan security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ahmed handed himself over to authorities in the northeastern Kenyan town of Wajir, the BBC news agency reported.

Officials said he may have feared for his life after deciding to leave Somalia as Ethiopian troops and Somali governmentforceshunt for members ofthe Council of Islamic Courts, driven from power in the capital Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia last month.

U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger has said Ahmed is a moderate Islamic leader who could be a key part of a national reconciliation process in Somalia.

Ahmed was chairman of the Executive Council of Islamic Courts, sharing the leadership with Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys. Aweys had been chairman of the courts' legislative council.

The U.S. believes if Ahmed were to hold talks with Somalia's government, then such talks could help to prevent a backlash from insurgents expected in Somalia.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian troops in Somalia killed three civilians early Monday after troops fired at several gunmen who were attempting to hide in a house in Mogadishu.

Mustaf Hassan Ali, a witness to the shooting, said the victims were civilians in the home, not the gunmen.

"The Ethiopians fired at the civilians when unknown gunmen sought refuge in their house," Ali said.

Somalia, in the Horn of Africa, has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew the government and then fought with each other.

The Islamic movement controlled most of southern Somalia for about six months. Ethiopian troops intervened on Dec. 24, and within 10 days, the Islamic council had been forced into hiding.