Sudan ? Somalia’s largely powerless government and the Islamic fighters who control the country’s capital agreed Thursday to stop military action and recognize each other.

The nonaggression pact signed in Sudan is a move toward international acceptance for the militia, which the U.S. has accused of harboring al-Qaida and wanting to impose a Taliban-style theocracy throughout Somalia.

The militia has said, however, that it does not want to control Somalia’s government, and appeared to confirm that by recognizing the two-year-old interim administration backed by the United Nations.