Govt soldiers 'join Islamists'

2006-08-16 13:05

Mogadishu - Islamists controlling much of southern Somalia said on Wednesday that at least 100 government soldiers had defected to their side, dealing a new blow to the weak transitional administration.

Officials said the troops, along with seven machine-gun mounted pick-ups known as "battlewagons" or "technicals", crossed into Islamist territory overnight from near the temporary government seat of Baidoa.

Court chairperson Mohamed Ali Bilal said: "The militiamen communicated with al-bayan Islamic court in Mogadishu and said they wanted to join our holy effort to bring peace to the Somali people.

He said: "They are ideologically uncomfortable with the government and also claim to have been mistreated."

Government officials in Baidoa, about 250km west of the capital, confirmed that a group of disgruntled soldiers had deserted, but put their number at fewer than 50.

Arab League-mediated talks delayed

The defections came as tensions rose between the largely powerless government and the Islamists who seized Mogadishu from warlords in June after months of fierce fighting and had rapidly expanded their territory.

The rise of the Islamists threatened the already limited authority of the internationally-backed government, which many had hoped could end 16 years of anarchy in the lawless Horn of Africa nation of 10 million people.

Planned Arab League-mediated talks this week in Sudan to calm the situation, were delayed again on Tuesday as the Islamists renewed demands for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops, allegedly in Somalia to protect the government.

But, both the Somali government and Addis Ababa had denied Ethiopian soldiers were in Somalia despite numerous witness accounts of uniformed troops from Ethiopia deploying in and around Baidoa.

Somalia had been without a functioning central authority since the 1991 ouster of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre plunged the country into chaos with rival warlords competing for territory.

The Islamists had moved to fill the power vacuum, raising concerns of Taliban-style takeover of Somalia and challenging the Baidoa-based government, the latest of 14 internationally-backed attempts to restore stability.

- AFP