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Somalia may 'revert to chaos'
29/01/2007 10:04 - (SA)
Doha - United States military officials say Somalia could return to chaos in four months if international peacekeepers don't quickly replace departing Ethiopian troops - now propping up the country's weak government.
A Somali government spokesperson echoed the warning on Sunday, saying Islamic fighters were regrouping and the US-backed transitional government lacked troops, training and weapons to deal with them.
Abdirahman Dinari said: "We need the support of the international community to deploy forces and assist us in securing the country."
Dinari said fighters from the deposed Council of Islamic Courts were counterattacking just as the invading Ethiopians had begun pulling out.
Innocent civilians killed
According to the spokesperson, Islamic fighters "are coming back to Mogadishu. They're destabilising sections of the city. They're killing innocent civilians. They're attacking police stations".
A pair of US military officials, interviewed in Qatar last week, said a worrying power vacuum was developing in Somalia, with Ethiopian troops hastening their departure amid reports that the army that invaded in December was being debilitated by malaria.
Both US officers spoke on condition of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the information.
One officer said that most troubling was that none of the 10 to 20 Council of Islamic Courts leaders or their al-Qaeda allies were known to have been killed or captured, and most of the few-thousand-strong militia remained intact inside Somalia.
US officer said: "They're probably just lying low. They're probably waiting for Ethiopia to leave."
Heightening the pressure, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said that he would pull a third of his troops out of Somalia within the next two days. Meles was speaking on the eve of an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
SA forces 'too stretched'
The African Union had approved a plan to send about 8 000 peacekeepers for a six-month mission that would eventually be taken over by the United Nations.
Nigeria, Malawi and Uganda had said they wanted to contribute troops, but no firm plans were in place. Meanwhile, South Africa said its forces were too stretched to contribute.
Ethiopian forces had been widely credited with a quick success in ousting the Islamic Courts militia from controlling most of Somalia and installing the weak, UN-recognised government in the capital, Mogadishu.
US forces played a limited role in the campaign, training and supplying the Ethiopian army, mounting air raids on militia targets and stationing a US Navy carrier battle group off the Somali coast.
But, impoverished Ethiopia lacked funds and staying power to sustain an occupation of its chaotic neighbour.
According to an American official, the US military had no plans to increase its role beyond backing its Ethiopian allies.
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