Somalia's transitional government on Saturday formally called for the U.N. Security Council to send an armed force to the Horn of Africa nation. In a letter to the United Nations, Prime Minister Hassan Abshir Farah said a strong central government would be impossible to establish without the help of an international force to disarm the country's warring factions.

Farah told a news conference that the massive amount of weapons prevents a stable government in Somalia, and destabilizes neighboring countries by being a source for illegal small arms.

The government also accused neighboring countries of interfering in Somalia's internal affairs.

Farah's request comes just weeks before the second anniversary of his transitional government, established by clan elders and businessmen.

But the government has failed to include powerful faction leaders who have private militias, so the government controls only a small portion of the country.

Somalia has had no effective central government since opposition leaders ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and the country turned into a patchwork of battling warlords ruled by heavily armed militias.

MAP CAPTION

Somalia has in effect been without a central government since 1991 when President Siad Barre was overthrown. Instead, warlords supported by heavily armed militias have ruled the areas under their control. The resulting inter-militia fighting and inability to deal with famine and disease have led to the death of up to one million people.