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| Africa Horn |
| Somali Militia Plans to Seize Gov't Base |
| 2006-07-19 |
| MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- The Islamic militiamen holding most of southern Somalia deployed hundreds of fighters outside the base of the U.N.-backed interim government Wednesday and said they planned to seize it. Seizing Baidoa would make the Islamic militia - which the United States has linked to al-Qaida - the uncontested authority over most of the country. The interim government was on high alert and ready to defend itself from an attack, Deputy Information Minister Salad Ali Jelle told The Associated Press. "Nothing will stop us from going into Baidoa," said Sheik Muqtar Robow, deputy defense chief for the Islamic group. He said more than 130 fighters who were loyal to President Abdullahi Yusuf had defected to the Islamists' side. The interim government already was virtually powerless and barely able to control Baidoa, 150 miles northwest of the capital. "It could be the beginning of a full-out war," said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, Minn. A Cabinet minister in the interim government was reported Tuesday to be recruiting militiamen to bolster the government and the deployment outside Baidoa appeared to be a pre-emptive strike. Relations between the government and the Islamic militiamen already were strained after the government accused the Islamic group of planning to attack Baidoa, receiving help from foreign terrorists and massacring government supporters during recent fighting in Mogadishu. The government had refused to meet the Islamic group in peace talks set for July 15 in neighboring Sudan, although it appeared to reverse course Monday under pressure from foreign governments pushing for a unified Somali administration. The status of the talks was thrown into uncertainty by Wednesday's deployment. A recent recruiting video issued by militia members shows foreign militants fighting alongside the local extremists in Mogadishu, and invites Muslims from around the world to join in their "holy jihad." Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, a leader of the group, claimed the tape was fabricated by the United States. Somalia has had no real government since the overthrow of a dictator in 1991. |
| Posted by:Steve |