Islamists close in on Somalian government

[General Duke]

Islamists close in on Somalian government

By David Blair in Baidoa

 

 

The ruined town of Baidoa, where ragged gunmen roam bullet-scarred streets, is Somalia's alternative capital.

 

Pulverised buildings, choked with weeds, house the country's official government, which has a president, cabinet and 275-member parliament.

 

Barely 150 miles away, Islamist extremists have seized most of Somalia's real capital, Mogadishu, and the surrounding territory.

 

Baidoa, where the "transitional federal government" clings to notional power thanks to international sponsorship, may be the Islamists' next target.

 

It took 14 peace conferences to create this threadbare administration and, until last year, fighting prevented it from even entering Somalia. The government has spent only four months in Baidoa - and already the clock is ticking.

 

Hussein Mohammed Aideed, the deputy prime minister, said the Islamists "pose a real military threat not only to Baidoa but to our neighbours".

 

He added: "I don't think our government has the capacity to withstand the forces now being massed in Mogadishu." Only some 3,000 motley militiamen are loyal to the Baidoa administration.

 

Mr Aideed, who is also interior minister, has recommended evacuating the government. He advised Abdullahi Yusuf, the transitional president, to leave Baidoa during a meeting of the national security council on Sunday.

 

"If I was the president I would have got out of here," said Mr Aideed. "But he is a military man, he will not relocate easily."

 

So far, Mr Yusuf has declined to move his administration to his home region of Puntland in northern Somalia. But Mr Aideed predicted that an Islamist assault on Baidoa would come in a "maximum of one or two weeks".

 

He added: "Already there are training camps hidden near Baidoa. They will bring weapons, stockpile them inside the town and create insecurity here. "

 

The Islamists, styling themselves the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts, captured most of Mogadishu last month. If Baidoa falls, they will have eliminated their last significant rival in southern Somalia. The way will be open for them to control a strategically vital area bordering Ethiopia and Kenya, containing dozens of ports and airstrips.

 

One of the Islamist leaders, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, appears on an American "wanted list". He was linked to a Somali militant group, al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, which may have aided the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

 

Western governments fear that an Islamist takeover of southern Somalia risks creating a haven for al-Qa'eda terrorists. The anarchic country, which destroyed its central government when President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991, is already believed to harbour several al-Qa'eda suspects.

 

But the Islamists have significant popular support. By imposing Sharia law, they have brought a semblance of order to Mogadishu.

 

One of their last warlord opponents surrendered his forces in Mogadishu on Monday. Control of the port was handed over to the Islamic forces on Wednesday after heavy fighting, while gunmen affiliated with two warlords turned in arms caches yesterday.

 

Mr Aideed, 44, who spent 10 years in the US Marines and holds dual American-Somali citizenship, blamed American errors for the rise of the Islamists. By funding a coalition of warlords to fight terrorism, the US made it easier for their Islamist opponents to raise money in the Muslim world, he said.

 

America also failed to build the army, police and intelligence services of the transitional government, he claimed.

 

Some 1.7 million Somalis rely on international aid. If Baidoa falls, the relief effort could be threatened.

[General Duke]

Baydhabo: Xuseen Caydiid oo ka digay awoodda ciidanka Maxkamadaha , sheegayna inay todobaad gudihiis kusoo jeedaan Baydhabo..

Friday, July 14, 2006

 

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Baydhabo(AllPuntland)-Raysulwasaare kuxigeenka dawladda Federaalka Soomaaliya , ahna wasiirka arimaha gudaha dawladda Federaalka Eng: Xuseen Maxamed Faarax Caydiid ayaa shaaca ka qaaday in maxkamaduhu ay ka go'antahay inay Baydhabo soo weeraraan , isla markaana ay doonayaan inay Soomaaliya oo dhan isku ballaariyaan.

 

" Umalayn mayo in dawladdayadu ay awood u leedahay inay is hortaagto ciidanka maxkamadaha oo uu ku sheegay inay yihiin kuwo aad u fara badan" ayuu yiri Xuseen Caydiid.

 

Xuseen Caydiid wuxuu sheegay in ciidanka dawladda Federaalka uu yahay 3,000 oo askari , marka loo eego kuwa maxkamaduhuna ay yihiin kuwo intaasi dhowr jeer ka badan.

 

Wasiirka arimaha gudaha oo u waramayay wargayska The Telegraph ayaa wuxuu intaasi raaciyay inuu ku talin lahaa in madaxwaynaha Soomaaliya uu ka tago magaalada Baydhabo.

 

Wuxuu kaloo sheegay inuu aado shirka ka dhacaya magaalada New York ee ay isugu imaanayaan golaha ammaanka ee qaramada midoobay, arimaha Soomaaliyana lagu soo qaadi doono.

 

Madaxwayne Yuusuf oo saxaafadda Caalamka wax ka waydiisay in xukuumadda Baydhabo uu ka rarayo , isla markaana uu u raro halka uu kasoo jeedo ee Puntland, ayuu gaashaanka ku dhuftay arintaasi.

 

Xuseen Caydiid wuxuu asagu sheegay in maxkamadaha todobaad ama laba todobaad haddii ay badato inay ku talo jirana inay yimaadaan Baydhabo.

 

Waa markii ugu horaysay oo masuul dawladda ka tirsan uu wal wal cad ka muujiyo maxkamadaha Islaamiga.

 

Maxkamadaha Islaamiga oo labaxay golaha Maxkamadaha ayaa haysta magaalada Muqdisho oo dhan iyo dhowr magaalo oo u dhow , hase ahaatee haddii ay qabsadaan Baydhabo waxay sheegan doonaan guud ahaan koonfurta Soomaaliya inay gacantooda ku jirto.

 

Source: Telegraph

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