(Adds meeting ends, peace committee formed)

By Guled Mohamed

MOGADISHU, Nov 7 (Reuters) - The parliament speaker of Somalia's interim government and Islamist leaders met on Tuesday near Mogadishu and promised to inject a fresh impetus to peace negotiations to avert war in the Horn of Africa country.

The meeting, held in the agriculture-rich settlement of Afgoye, 30 km (19 miles) west of the capital, was attended by politicians led by speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan and top Islamist leaders including Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.

After several hours, both groups announced that they had formed a committee to spearhead Somalia's peace negotiations.

"The aim of this meeting was to announce the start of negotiations between us and the government," Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the head of the executive wing of the Islamists said.

"The solution is in our hands."

Ahmed and Aweys lead the Islamist movement, which controls the capital and most of southern Somalia after it defeated U.S.-backed warlords in June. Supporters say the Islamists have returned law and order to Somalia after 15 years of anarchy since the ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

But their rise has challenged the aspirations of Somalia's western-backed interim government based in the town of Baidoa.

The speaker is the most senior government official to visit Mogadishu since the Islamists seized it and began their push to spread sharia law across the nation of 10 million.

"You have returned peace in Mogadishu. While we enjoy international recognition, why don't we join hands?" the speaker said amid chants of God is great. "We have formed a committee to spearhead (peace) talks," he added without elaborating.

There was no immediate comment from government officials in Baidoa, but the speaker said he had requested the Islamists to lift a fuel and food embargo they had slapped on the government.

"Since the negotiations have started, I ask the Islamic courts to lift the fuel embargo on Baidoa," he said. "If not Baidoa will run out of fuel and food in the coming two days."

The Islamists promised to look into the matter before handing the speaker the Koran.

"I give the holy Koran to the speaker. This is our charter," Ahmed said.

ALL OUT-CONFLICT

Fears of an all-out conflict in Somalia -- which could enflame the Horn of Africa -- rose last week after Arab League-sponsored peace talks were postponed with mediators urging both sides to exercise restraint.

Tensions remain high. In Galkaayo, Islamist troops and government forces squared off on Tuesday, just a day after fighting broke out between the Islamists and the self-declared state of Puntland.

"We are facing off with the Islamic troops near Galinsoor," Ali Sahal, a government officer said by telephone from near the defence line. "The two forces are just 5 kilometres apart. Gun battles can restart anytime."

Analysts fear war between the government of President Abdullahi Yusuf and the Islamists could spread.

The Islamists say the government is supported by thousands of troops who invaded from neighbouring Ethiopia, whose arch-foe Eritrea is accused of arming the Islamists.

The Islamists have called for holy war, or Jihad, against Ethiopia.

"There is a compulsory Jihad in which the blind, women, children and the handicapped need to join. When a Muslim is attacked he has a right to defend himself," Aweys said.

Somalia has lacked central rule since the 1991 ousting of dictator Barre plunged the country into anarchy.

(Additional reporting by Sahal Abdulle in Mogadishu)

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