Somali war worries EU

2006-12-20 14:22

Mogadishu - A European Union envoy plans to fly to troubled Somalia to promote peace talks after weeks of saber rattling by the besieged government and an advancing Islamic movement, which resulted in minor clashes, said officials on Wednesday.

But with troops on the move, suspected terrorists emerging as leaders and foreign fighters pouring into the country, only masterful diplomacy and some arm twisting would get both sides to back away from the brink of war for very long.

According to an EU statement, Louis Michel, the European commissioner for development and aid, would try to get the two sides to stop fighting and commit to high-level peace talks.

Fears of a full-blown civil war had intensified in recent weeks as both the government and the council dismissed efforts to schedule peace talks and threatened military action. Both sides had moved fighters, fuel and ammunition to the front lines.

Govt soldier killed

Spokesperson from both sides said that late on Tuesday, government troops and Islamic militia clashed near Idale, a front line village northwest of Mogadishu. Barre Aden Hirale, the government's defense minister, said one government soldier was killed.

Hirale said: "It was a brief clash on Tuesday evening, but the worst expected fighting is imminent because frenzied and ferocious groups led by terrorists are planning to attack us", adding that the government patrol killed three Islamic fighters.

Abdirahin Ali Mudey, spokesperson for the courts, accused Ethiopian troops of being responsible for the clash. He said: "They attacked the positions of our troops and they were repulsed."

Residents also reported Islamic forces on the move, advancing on the government-held towns of Bardhere and Farlibah. Somalia had not had an effective government since 1991.

Islamic militias control Mogadishu

The government, backed by Ethiopian troops, held only a small area around the central town of Baidoa. The Islamic militias controlled the capital, Mogadishu, but had also fanned out across most of southern Somalia.

The secular government, backed by the United Nations, had rejected religious rule for Somalia, while the Muslim leaders had insisted on an Islamic government.

According to the top UN official for Somalia, a war in Somalia right now would be devastating.

A drought wiped out most of the country's crops and livestock in late 2005 and early 2006, while flooding since September had destroyed tens of thousands of homes and spread more misery.

As many as 400 000 refugees could flee into neighbouring Kenya.

Despite having 1.8 million people in need of urgent aid, the government and the Islamic movement ratcheted up the war rhetoric last week.

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf said that military advances by the supreme council of Islamic Courts, the umbrella body for the Islamic movement, had closed the door to peace.

- AP