 MOGADISHU - SomaliaÂ’s interim government has called on Islamist gunmen, who seized Mogadishu from an alliance of warlords, to hand over their weapons in the hope a disarmament would allow lawmakers to return to the capital.
The government has welcomed the defeat of the warlords, who many blame for undermining it, and is in talks with Islamic leaders to persuade them to support the administration.
So far the government, formed in late 2004 in the relative security of Kenya, has failed to assert any real authority over the country.
“We have asked them to hand over their weapons and are still waiting for their answer,” Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayr said on Saturday.
| It'll be a while, they're laughing really hard right now ... |
“If the Islamic courts and other stakeholders like the businessmen hand over their weapons it’s a really good step. The government could operate in Mogadishu within months,” he said by telephone from Baidoa, some 240 km (150 miles) from the capital where the government based itself because of security fears.
| And he's not getting any closer than Baidoa, either. |
Diplomats say it is too early to tell whether the Islamic militia, which controls much of southern Sudan, will help install the government in Mogadishu or set up a rival authority.
| I dunno, Mr. Striped Pants, what do you think a bunch of blood-thirsty, al-Qaeda inspired Islamcist killers will do? |
One Western diplomat, who did not want to be named, said attention was focused on the intentions of Ethiopia -- Somali President Abdullahi YusufÂ’s main foreign sponsor and the Horn of AfricaÂ’s top military power. SomaliaÂ’s big, nominally Christian-led neighbour, is wary of overt Islamist influence in the region. |