(Updates with lawmaker quote, planned demonstrations) By Guled Mohamed MOGADISHU, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Somalia's government accused rival Islamists of abducting three lawmakers on Thursday but the movement said instead that it had stopped them from reaching the government's base to protect them from Ethiopian troops there. The move appeared to be another step to isolate the Western-backed government, based in the provincial town Baidoa. The Islamists effectively flank the administration on three sides and have stopped fuel shipments reaching its sole outpost. Tensions are rising in the Horn of Africa nation between the interim government and the Islamists, who control Mogadishu and are extending their authority across southern Somalia. The three lawmakers were travelling to Baidoa from Mogadishu when they were stopped in the Islamist-controlled town of Buur Hakaba, only 30 km (18 miles) from Baidoa. There was no immediate independent confirmation of what had happened. "Three members of parliament were today abducted in Buur Hakaba by the Islamic Courts troops," Deputy Defence Minister Salad Ali Jelle told Reuters. "We consider it as an act of aggression for members of parliament to be abducted. We are asking for the immediate release of the three members of parliament. If not, it will cause a big problem," he said. "It can even cause war." The Islamists said they were protecting the lawmakers from Ethiopian troops, who witnesses say are propping up the fractious government of President Abdullahi Yusuf -- the 14th attempt at effective central rule since 1991. Somalia plunged into anarchy that year when warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. "It was not an abduction," Sheikh Mukhtar Ali Robow, the Islamists' deputy defence chief, said. "We are the ones who asked them to return to Mogadishu in order to save their lives from the Ethiopians. We feared the Ethiopians might harm them. They are now nearly reaching Mogadishu." Lawmaker Asha Abdallah named the three legislators as Sheikh Jama Haji Hussein, Sheikh Maalin Jiss and Mohamed Hassan Fiqi. "We understand they were returned from Buur Hakaba but we have no further information," she said. The Islamists have accused Ethiopia of sending troops to protect the government, and declared holy war against Ethiopia earlier this month after they said Ethiopian soldiers had helped the government seize Buur Hakaba briefly. Addis Ababa denies any incursion, save for several hundred armed military trainers it has sent. Many fear the standoff could erupt into a regional war, sucking in Ethiopia and its rival Eritrea -- which denies charges of sending weapons to the Islamists. In a move likely to heighten tensions, local radio said the Islamists were planning to mount a wave of pro-jihad demonstrations against Ethiopia in areas under their control on Friday, using the occasion to recruit new members.
