Islamic militia '100% in power'

2006-06-29 15:23

Mogadishu - A top member of the Islamic militia that controls the capital and most of southern Somalia said the group would not consult with anybody on running Mogadishu - underlining the powerlessness of the country's interim government.

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, leader of the militia's executive board, was responding to criticism that the group violated a recent deal with the government to stop all military action.

The militia seized a clan-held checkpoint in a battle that killed six people this week.

He said: "We are responsible for the security of the capital, and those who say we broke the agreement didn't understand what the agreement was about. We will not consult on what we do in Mogadishu with anyone."

Aweys 'on US terrorist watch list'

The United Nations-backed interim government carried little sway in Somalia. Its operations were restricted to Baidoa, 150km from the capital.

Ahmed was behind last week's deal with the government - an agreement that had signalled a willingness by the Islamic militia to accommodate the desires of the international community.

But in the days since it was signed, the militia replaced Ahmed as its top leader with a radical Islamic cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.

He was on the United States terrorist watch list as a suspected collaborator with al-Qaeda.

Somalia had been without an effective central government since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and later turned on each other, carving much of the country into armed camps ruled by violence and clan law.

Hundreds flee homes

Many of the capital's residents applauded the Islamic group for forcing the warlords from Mogadishu, despite concerns that the militia might try to remake Somalia into a theocracy akin to Afghanistan under the Taliban.

On Wednesday, hundreds of people who lived near the checkpoint battleground began fleeing their homes for fear of renewed fighting.

The Islamic militia broke up the checkpoint just outside southern Mogadishu on Tuesday. By Wednesday, the clan had regrouped and deployed hundreds of fighters to the area.

Hassan Fidow, a restaurant owner, said militiamen loyal to Habar Gidir clan leader Abdi Hassan Awale were massed just 500m from Islamist fighters. Awale, a former police chief, was also known as Abdi Qeybdiid.

Washington had long-standing concerns that Somalia would become a refuge for members of Osama bin Laden's terror network, much like Afghanistan did in the late 1990s.

The US had accused the Islamic militia of harbouring al-Qaeda leaders responsible for deadly 1998 bombings at the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The US backed the warlords in their fight against the Islamic militia.

- AP