KOFI ANNAN gave warning yesterday that Somalia could become a regional battle-ground after a United Nations report claimed that ten states were arming rival factions in the country’s civil war.

Speaking in Nairobi, the UN Secretary-General said that the Somali people had suffered enough without outsiders fuelling further violence, in contravention of a UN arms ban imposed 14 years ago.

There are fears that if left unchecked, the conflict could escalate into a regional conflagration that would spread across the Horn of Africa.

Mr Annan’s remarks followed the release of a detailed 80-page report prepared for the UN by four security experts. They accused ten countries of supporting either the interim government or the radical Islamic militia, which now controls the capital Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia. “Behind the scenes, large cargo aircraft and ocean-going dhows have been clandestinely delivering arms and other forms of military support from states, arms-trading networks and others, almost on a daily basis,” said the report.

The allegations, which were widely denied yesterday by those accused, claimed that Ethiopia, Uganda and Yemen had been arming the provisional government in the provincial city of Baidoa.

Eritrea, Djibouti, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Libya and Saudi Arabia are accused of sending weapons to the Council of Islamic Courts, a militant Islamic group which is imposing Muslim law over areas under its control.

“An already difficult and volatile situation could be further complicated by neighbouring countries rushing in with troops or guns to support one side or the other,” said Mr Annan. “It will only compound the problem, so I would urge them to stay out.”

Western diplomats said that the main concern was the involvement of Somalia’s neighbours Ethiopia and Eritrea, which are already engaged in a protracted border dispute and may extend their battle to Somalia.

The UN report, which will be discussed by the Security Council tomorrow, claimed that Eritrea had sent 28 shipments of arms and equipment to militant forces as well as 2,000 troops. Two of the military flights were allegedly made last month from the Eritrean city of Massawa to Mogadishu.

Ethiopia, which acknowledges sending “hundreds” of military advisers to help the Somali Government, is accused of sending at least 3,300 soldiers into the country as well as arms and military vehicles. Uganda is said to have sent spare parts for anti-aircraft guns and about 100 military advisers.

Earlier this week witnesses in the town of Gulkayo, which could be the next battleground, confirmed that government troops had been reinforced by 300 Ethiopian soldiers backed by 15 pick-up trucks armed with heavy machineguns.

One of the most disturbing allegations raised by the report is the involvement of Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, the Shia militia. It claims that Iran flew three cargo planes loaded with arms to the Islamic militia in Somalia in return for access to the country’s uranium deposits, near the home town of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the Somali Islamist leader.

“At the time of the writing of the present report, there were two Iranians in Dhusa Mareb engaged in matters linked to uranium in exchange for arms,” the report said.

Ties with the Islamic militants are so strong that 720 Somali fighters allegedly travelled to Lebanon this summer to help Hezbollah in its war with Israel. In return, Hezbollah arranged for additional support from Iran and Syria, which supplied anti- aircraft missiles and training for 200 fighters. Egypt, Libya and Eritrea are accused of helping to establish a guerrilla training camp in Hiilweyne. Djibouti allegedly sent arms concealed as humanitarian supplies.

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