Mogadishu, Somalia ? Islamic militia leaders who seized Somalia’s capital this week and are accused of harboring al-Qaida fugitives started discussing the future of the lawless country Thursday with its largely powerless U.N.-backed government.

The meeting came a day after the Bush administration sounded a surprising conciliatory note toward the militia.

The aim of the Islamic Courts Union, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters, “is to try to lay the foundations for some institutions in Somalia that might form the basis for a better and more peaceful, secure Somalia where the rule of law is important.”

The statement was a surprising turnaround for the United States, which had been waging a proxy fight against the militia, said John Prendergast, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group. However, he said, it was important that the United States work with powers on the ground in Somalia to bring stability to the country.

The Islamic militia captured the capital and surrounding areas when it defeated a U.S.-backed alliance of secular warlords after weeks of bloody fighting that killed at least 330 people, many of them civilians caught in the crossfire.

Meanwhile, the weak interim government, wracked by infighting, has not been able to move into the capital because of the violence, instead operating 155 miles away in Baidoa.