Xoogsade Posted May 2, 2007 May 02. 2007 2:12PM Mogadishu Mayor Vows to Hit Terrorists By SALAD DUHUL Associated Press Writer Advertisement The time of terrorists is over in Somalia's capital, the troubled city's new mayor said Wednesday. Mohamed Dheere, who spent 16 years as a warlord struggling for power in this Horn of Africa nation, was named mayor this week. The move appeased his clan - and that may have as much to do with the calm of recent days as any victory over insurgents, who the government calls terrorists. Clan rivalries and the insurgency by Islamic militants have fueled Mogadishu's recent bloodshed, which aid groups say killed 1,670 people between March 12 and April 26 and sent more than 340,000 of the city's 2 million residents fleeing for safety. As a member of a powerful clan that had complained of being ignored by the interim government, Dheere will be able to call on fellow clansmen to pacify Mogadishu. "We will crack down on terrorists and bandits in the capital," he told The Associated Press. Dheere, who has long cooperated with the CIA in grabbing al-Qaida operatives in the capital, promised that the "time of terrorists is over," saying he would keep the city quiet by using 20 police vehicles to patrol the streets "day and night." "These police forces will arrest every suspected terrorist or bandits," he said. While his readiness to fight Islamic militants makes him appealing to the United States and neighboring Ethiopia, which support the acting Somali government, his use of clan warfare and indiscriminate violence while a warlord makes him unpopular with many Somalis. Still, in a land with a dizzying array of clan alliances, Dheere's appointment by interim President Abdullahi Yusuf may be a big step in appeasing clan interests that have driven much of the fighting. Elders of Dheere's ****** clan, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, told AP recently that they did not necessarily support the Islamic extremists fighting the government. But unless Yusuf shared power, they said, there was no reason to expect them to exert their authority to quell the violence. Yusuf seems to have listened. In recent days, Dheere and two other ****** members - all former warlords - have been listed for top posts. Dheere's appointment satisfies a branch of the clan known as the Abgal. Abdi Qeybdiid, a member of the Habr Gedir branch, is the new deputy police chief, and Mohamed Qanyare Afrah of the Mursade branch is widely believed to be about to join Yusuf's Cabinet. Not everyone is hopeful peace can be built by warlords like Dheere, who ran roughshod over this African nation of 8 million people after overthrowing dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The country split into rival fiefdoms and plunged into chaos. Ted Dagne, an expert on Somalia at the Congressional Research Service, said the warlords' appointments "do not address the root causes of the problem facing Somalis." A peace conference planned for this month is the best hope for that, he said. "The key test is going to be not just the appointment of individuals to key positions, but what this reconciliation conference does for those who feel they've been sidelined by the Transitional Federal Government," he said. "That has to include the moderate elements of the Islamic Courts." The Islamic militant group known as the Council of Islamic Courts seized power last year in Mogadishu and much of Somalia's south, bringing a semblance of order to the capital for the first time in years, in part by driving out the warlords' militias. But the Islamists were ousted over the New Year by government and Ethiopian troops, with the help of U.S. special forces sent by Washington, which has long accused the Muslim hard-liners of having ties to al-Qaida and worries about Somalia becoming a haven for extremists. The Somali government is now trying to reunite the capital, but is struggling to overcome an insurgency that has sparked some of the worst fighting in 15 years. Yusuf was not available for comment Wednesday, and other top officials refused to discuss the issue. Mogadishu resident Mohamed Mohamud Burale said that after all the fighting in his city, the government was wise to start trying to bridge clan lines. "It could lead to peace," the 26-year-old said. "It may be that nobody would go against the government." --- AP writer Elizabeth A. Kennedy in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report. Maxamed Dheere Vows To Fight Terrorists Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
