Somalis fear warlord's attack

2004-09-06 11:31

Mogadishu - Hundreds of residents of southern Somalia have begun fleeing their homes in anticipation of an attack by the only major warlord to boycott peace talks in neighbouring Kenya, witnesses said on Monday.

Villagers living the Gedo and Jubba valleys reached by radio said Mohamed Siad Hersi, better known as General Morgan, was building up troops, weapons and ammunition for a possible assault on the strategic port of Kismayo.

More than 50 trucks mounted with heavy weapons were seen moving north from the Bai region toward Kismayo, 400km south of the capital Mogadishu, said a resident in the Diin Door district of Bai, speaking on condition he not be named for fear of retribution.

"Blatant act of aggression"

Adoow Aadan Diriye, an elder reached in Bardhere, south of Kismayo, said that most of the residents of his town had already left in anticipation of a battle between Morgan's militia and troops from the Jubba Valley Alliance, who are mobilising forces to defend Kismayo.

"When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers most," he said.

Morgan is the only significant faction leader to boycott the peace talks in Kenya, at which a new national parliament for the Horn of Africa country was sworn in on August 22. He walked out of the talks in March over a dispute regarding a transitional charter for Somalia.

The seven-nation regional organisation mediating the talks, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, threatened Sunday to slap heavy sanctions against Morgan for attempting to derail the peace efforts. The organisation urged other Somali faction leaders to disassociate themselves from Morgan, while inviting him to rejoin the peace talks in Kenya.

Human rights and civil society organisations in Somalia have condemned Morgan's activities, saying a "blatant act of aggression at this time when Somalia is on the threshold of peace is unacceptable."

- AP