KISMAYO, Somalia, Sept 26, 2006 (AFP) - Somali Islamists on Tuesday imposed a curfew in this key southern port as sporadic gunfire echoed overnight after violent protests by residents against their new Muslim leaders.

A day after taking Kismayo peacefully but then opening fire on demonstrators, Islamist forces slapped a 9:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew on the town, the seizure of which dealt a new blow to Somalia's weak interim government.

"We don't know how long the curfew will stay in place," said Kismayo businessman Ahmed Sheilk Abdulle. "If the plan is to avoid violence, we can wait, but everything must have its limits."

At least two people died in the violence, according to residents, but the Islamists have vehemently denied anyone was killed or wounded, and despite reports of limited gunfire early Tuesday, the port was edgy but calm.

"Kismayo is calm despite what happened yesterday, there were some shots but no heavy gunfire," said town resident Mawlid Aden Dhuubow.

He told AFP there were fears the government-allied local Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) militia, which had held Kismayo until Sunday but then fled and Islamist advance, might attempt a counter-strike.

Kismayo residents appeared split over the Islamists' arrival.

"A large number of other people support them while others are not happy at all," said Kismayo resident Mukhtar Elmi said.

"I am on the list of those who are undecided whether to accept them or oppose them but I know opposing them will cost too much," he told AFP. "It is cheaper to support the courts," he added.

The Islamists, meanwhile, announced the curfew aimed at calming the town, the latest municipality in southern Somalia to fall into their hands since they seized Mogadishu from warlords in June after months of fierce battles.

The Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS) says it took Kismayo, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the capital and 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of the Kenyan border, to prevent proposed peacekeepers from landing.

The weak transitional government based in the town of Baidoa says the move on Kismayo violates an interim peace accord signed earlier this month and has accused the Islamists of fomenting violence in terrorism.

On Monday, Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi appealed for help to prevent the Islamists from further expansion, saying their alleged links to terror groups like Al-Qaeda posed a growing threat to the region and world.

He renewed calls for the deployment of an African Union-endorsed peacekeeping force that the Islamists have vowed to fight if sent.

Despite the fierce Islamist opposition, the seven-member Inter-Govermental Authority on Development (IGAD) has approved plans to send 8,000 peacekeepers to salvage the government it helped create in 2004.

But it faces numerous hurdles, not least of which are Islamist vows to fight the force, a lack of money to pay for the mission and logistical problems, now including no port in which to land the troops.

Gedi's internationally backed but largely powerless administration is the latest in more than a dozen attempts to restore stability to Somalia, which was plunged into anarchy after the 1991 ouster of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre.

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