Somalia fears Islamist attack
2006-12-14 19:24
Nairobi - Somalia's prime minister said on Thursday that powerful Islamists plan to attack his weak government before the arrival of peacekeepers as the United States warned against such aggression.
Amid fears of an imminent all-out conflict that many fear could engulf the Horn of Africa region, Eritrea called for an emergency east African meeting on Somalia, where it and arch-foe Ethiopia are already accused of waging a proxy war.
And the United Nations launched a massive donor appeal for funds to ease suffering in the crisis-stricken nation, where the misery of nearly two million people already hit by drought and floods may be compounded by conflict.
In the Kenyan capital, Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said the Islamists are advancing on the Ethiopian-backed government's seat of Baidoa to pre-empt deployment of a UN-authorised east African peacekeeping force.
"The situation is very tense now," he said, noting Islamist threats of major attacks if Ethiopian troops now in Somalia protecting his government do not leave by next Tuesday.
"The so-called Islamic courts and their allies are trying to buy time and attack the government before the arrival of the peace support mission," Gedi told reporters in Nairobi where he is attending a conference.
The Islamists have vowed to fight any foreign troops on Somali soil and have already declared holy war against the Ethiopian soldiers there.
After last week's UN security council authorisation of peacekeepers and its easing of a 1992 arms embargo to equip them, the Islamists on Tuesday vowed full-scale battles with the Ethiopians if they don't leave in seven days.
The United States, which sponsored the UN resolution and accuses some Islamist elements of al-Qaeda links, on Thursday slammed the Islamist ultimatum and their advance on Baidoa, saying they undermined peace efforts.
"This ultimatum further destabilises the situation and undermines international and regional efforts to encourage credible dialogue between Somali parties," said the US embassy in Kenya, which also covers Somalia.