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Somalia implements martial law
31/01/2007 12:33 - (SA)
Mohamed Olad Hassan
Mogadishu - Somalia's interim government has begun imposing martial law in areas under its control, says the prime minister, as rising violence threatens its tenuous grip on power.
A curfew was imposed on Tuesday night on the southern Somalia town of Baidoa, after Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi warned that remnants of an ousted Islamic movement had returned to the towns and were planning to destabilise the lawless country.
Gedi said: "From now on, the martial law would be implemented across government-controlled areas, starting with Baidoa tonight."
The three-month emergency law was announced on January 13, but was not implemented.
African leaders meeting in neighbouring Ethiopia had failed to make up a shortfall of 4 000 troops for a peacekeeping mission to Somalia, and fears were mounting that Somalia could again be plunged into civil war without a peacekeeping force.
Ethiopia withdraw its forces
Since the Islamic movement was ousted by Somali government troops, backed by Ethiopian soldiers, tanks and war planes, factional violence had again became a feature of life in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
But, Ethiopia had begun withdrawing its forces, with diplomats warning it could create a power vacuum that Islamic fighters could take advantage of.
On Tuesday night, unknown gunmen attacked Ethiopian bases on the northeastern outskirts of the capital with rocket-propelled grenades.
Businessman Koge Omar said that no civilians were hurt by the Ethiopian who returned the fire with anti-aircraft missiles.
Also on Tuesday, extremists in Somalia had warned that they would try to kill any peacekeepers deployed to the war-ravaged country.
African peacekeepers 'invaders'
In a videotape posted on the official website of Somalia's routed Islamic movement on Tuesday, a hooded gunman read a statement saying that any African peacekeepers would be seen as invaders.
So far, five nations - Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi, Burundi and Ghana - had pledged about 4 000 troops.
One militant, carrying an assault rifle and dressed in military fatigues, said: "Somalia is not a place where you will earn a salary - it is a place where you will die.
"The salary you are seeking will be used to transport your bodies." Five other hooded gunmen were visible, armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
A top United States diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, said: "We will not be intimidated.
"Obviously, whenever you are going into a dangerous situation, it's prudent military planning to expect someone to attack you or your forces."
The US had accused the Islamic group of sheltering suspects in the 1998 al-Qaeda bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Osama Bin Laden had said Somalia was a battleground in his war on the West.
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