Insurgents vow to attack Somalia peace meeting

[Faarax-Brawn]

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Delegates from across Somalia are pouring into Mogadishu for a major reconciliation meeting on Sunday, seen as the government's last hope at securing peace and strengthening its legitimacy in the Horn of Africa nation.

 

But expectations for the gathering are low amid an insurgent threat to attack the conference venue and the widely held belief that violence will not end until Somalia's interim government sits down to talk with its Islamist foes.

 

The gathering of more than 1,000 elders, ex-warlords and politicians has been postponed twice over security concerns, which have not diminished. Roadside blasts, suicide bombings and assassinations are now an almost daily fixture of life in the coastal capital.

 

Islamist insurgents regularly attack government troops, their Ethiopian military allies and African Union peacekeepers from Uganda in a their bid to restore the Islamic rule they briefly imposed last year.

 

They vowed on Friday to disrupt Sunday's meeting and foil any attempt by the government to cement its grip on the country.

 

"We will hit the government harder than we did on Wednesday," Islamist commander Maalim Hashi Mohamed told Reuters by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location.

 

"They are criminals who have sold our country to Ethiopia. We will only talk once our country is free," he said.

 

News on Wednesday that the meeting would finally go ahead brought a barrage of mortar attacks on the presidential palace and the conference venue itself, an old bullet-scarred police compound freshened up with new paint for the occasion.

 

"We are warning people against attending the talks because it is a government project only aimed at getting donor funds," Mohamed said.

 

MISSED OPPORTUNITY?

 

President Abdullahi Yusuf's interim government has struggled to impose authority on the chaotic country since ousting the hardline Islamic Courts movement from the capital in late December.

 

It hopes that by drawing Somalia's myriad clans to substantial talks it can win broad support -- no easy task in a nation that has foiled 13 previous attempts to establish central rule since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre's 1991 overthrow.

 

Yusuf told reporters on Thursday that "even if a nuclear bomb explodes in Mogadishu," the conference would go ahead.

 

But some residents of the impoverished, rubble-strewn city overlooking the Indian Ocean said the administration had gotten it wrong, and should be talking to the Islamists -- who ruled much of southern Somalia for six months last year -- instead.

 

"This is a lost opportunity," Abdi Yusuf, 60, told Reuters. "The government and the Islamic Courts are the main rivals. They have to meet for genuine peace to be achieved. If not, the killings will continue unabated."

 

A European Union delegation visited Mogadishu on Wednesday, praised the conference preparations and said they would return to the capital for an opening ceremony on Sunday.

 

Other diplomats and security experts who track Somalia said they feared the chance of an attack was just too high to risk the trip. Anyway, many expect the meeting to be adjourned quickly while the government buys time to organise itself.

 

Mogadishu, one of the world's most dangerous cities, has hosted very few big meetings, so hotel business is booming and ruined buildings are being repaired as delegates arrive.

 

Hundreds of clan representatives were already in the city, while others were expected overnight or on Saturday.

 

But many feared little would be achieved.

 

"Nothing concrete will come out of these talks," said one Somali political analyst who asked not to be identified. "If the (Islamic) Courts were there it would have been positive. Unless a miracle happens, it will be a futile meeting."

 

Source: Reuters, July 13, 2007

[Che -Guevara]

I don't see any point in attacking the venue of this so called reconcialation. And this insurgency seems to lack the broad support it needs to succeed and proper leadership to guide it through these difficult times. All attacks perpetuated by the insurgency only seem to maim Somalis. And I'm begining to question if there's an actaul insurgency?

[Gordon Gekko]

[Kashafa]

Originally posted by Caravaggio:

I don't see any point in attacking the venue of this so called reconcialation. And this insurgency seems to lack the broad support it needs to succeed and proper leadership to guide it through these difficult times. All attacks perpetuated by the insurgency only seem to maim Somalis. And I'm begining to question if there's an actaul insurgency?

The point in attacking this venue is simple and really isn't hard to understand, Che: Anybody that stands with the Tigray occupation will be cut down and gutted like a fish. Mogadisho is a war-zone. Any 'Naba-doon' that stands with the goverment needs to understand that he is implicitly pledging allegiance to the Occupation, thus being a legitimate target. You wanna be a 'nabad-doon' statesman ? Do it outside of Mogadisho and Somalia, which is now effectively, a battlefront. Throw urself into Etho arms, at your own peril. Nin loo digey lama dhilin.

 

Also, next time, please provide a viable alternative to the ongoing resistance before criticizing it.

 

Nitpicking-ka iska dhaaf, sxbow, waa kula talinaa.

[Fabregas]

Attacking nabadoons and clan elders always backfires on those that fight occupations. Thes nabadoons and clan elders hold prestige and respect over large groups of people. This is something the Alqaeda in Iraq are finding out, something the boys in Muqdisho who want emulate Zarqawi should think about......

[Che -Guevara]

Kashafa.....Don't you find it odd that the war against the Ethios is only happening in Mogadisho. Everywhere else in Somalia is complete lull apart from the occasional inter-tribal skirmishes.

 

I'm all for throwing the Ethios out of Somalia and the only way we could achieve is by uniting the warring Somali tribes and alienating the warlords. Attacking Nabadon a symbolic tribal figures would only divide us even farther considering our tribalistic nature.

 

I think the insurgency shouldn't fight with guns only. They should also go on the diplomatic offensive by engaging with Somali clan leaders, and asking them to join this noble fight. I know this is easier said than done, but it gotta start somewhere. One thing is obvious, this "wadanka waa la heystaa" message isn't selling. That's just my humble opinion.

[Kashafa]

Che..I fully agree, there should be a massive diplomatic push aimed at winning over the clan leaders.....but not when they're fully in the pocket of the Tigrays & warlords. They have become part of the enemy that must be combated. M.Dheere is a clan leader...Should he be spared out of fear of alienating his clan ? Doesn't work that way. But I agree, in general, resistance alone won't be sufficient.

 

Why is Mogadisho fighting alone ? It's not, but that's were it's 'hot' currently. That's were the TFG is, that's where the Tigrays are. Destroy(or seriously weaken) the TFG/Tigray alliance and you've just freed Somalia. Doesn't make tactical sense to spread yourself thin and open multiple frontlines. But you can best believe that, in short notice, the fight can erupt anywhere from Bosaaso, Galkacyo, all the way down to Kismayo.

 

Geel-Jire,

Maybe so, but any clan elders/nabadoon that attends or plans to, this fake conference is already bought and bagged by the Tigrays. Doolar aa usoo carfay and he came running like a dog promised treats. So if he bakhtis on Sunday, good riddance. You've been warned not to stand next the Xabashi occupiers, adeer nabadoon

 

Nobody's emulating Zarqawi and his car-bombs that target civillians just because they're Shia. That's crazy and barbaric.

 

These ciyaal-ka xaafada boyz are fighting for Somalia future(respect that), not bombing Shia civillians, or their Somali counterparts.

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

attack ethiopia by killing Somalis and Somali elders? What do they hope to accomplish by this. Whatever there intention, even saying will only alianate further and show their true face to everyone, that of terrorist.

[Kashafa]

What about the 'government' that carpet-bombs it's own capital to rubble, massacres it's own citizens, and forces half a million to seek shelter under trees ?

 

What do you call that, Naxar ?

[Che -Guevara]

Kashafa....Firstly Walaal, M Dheere is not clan leader. He is an opportunistic warlord that doesn't hold any sway over his clansmen. He doesn't have the credentials of an actual clan-appointed Nabadon, Ugaas, Islow or Malaaq. Men that fight for him do so only cuz he shares his loot with them. It would be a mistake to assume the likes of Dheere speak for their clansmen.

 

Mid kale the idea of containing the war into Mogadisho is strategically futile one as the Ethios whose supplies and reinforcements pass through Somali terrain move about peacefully till they reach the suburbans of Xamar Caddeey. I say turn up the heat on these people. Hit them wherever and whenever you can. Napoleon once said and I quote,'You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war'. Draw out the Ethios into skirmishes wherever they are. And we will know how they fight and what they fear. And more importantly, nowhere in proper Somalia would be safe for them. The only way to do this is unite the warring Somali tribes. Few things unite glory, interest and indignity of being subservient in their own land. It is certainly in the interest of every Somali tribe to bring back the once glorious nation of Somalia, and not suffer the indignity of being occupied.