Islamists now control 95 percent of Somali towns

Mogadishu, 12 July (AKI) - The Somali provisional government and some of the so-called 'warlords' will soon form a military alliance against the Islamist militias which control the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and almost all towns, Somali sources told Adnkronos International (AKI) on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The sources explained that the new alliance's chief objective will be to gain control of the military airport of Baledogle, west of Mogadishu - Somalia's only functional airport - and then to take the city of Jowhar, some 90 kilometres north of the capital.

According to the sources, the former warlord of Jowahr, Mohammed Deere, will be the main tribal leader taking part to the alliance with the provisional government. Three more warlords - Mohammed Qaniare Afrah, Bashir Rageh and Muse Sudi Yalahow - will be involved in the deal.

Deere was welcomed by a minister on Tuesday in Baidoa, the southern provincial town of Baidoa, 200 kilometres from Mogadishu, where the provisional government is based. His whereabouts had been unknown for several weeks.

Deere had lost control of Jowahr to the Union of the Islamic Courts (UIC) on 13 June. In contrast to what happened in the capital, in Jowhar, the Islamist group kept its troops outside the city-boundaries and achieved control over the city through negotiations with the chiefs of the local tribes.

Jowahr had hosted the headquarters of the provisional government and of the parliament together with Baidoa from 2004 until February this year. In early 2006, to solve a long-running dispute over the location of the parliament's headquarters which had stalled the peace process for years, it was decided the body would meet only in Baidoa, which greatly disappointed Deere.

Nowadays, Deere and the provisional government appear to be convinced that the only way to prevent the UIC from becoming the only rulers of Somalia is to join forces and fight together.

Winning control of the airport of Baledogle would be crucial from a strategic point of view, the sources said. The only airport that still operational in Somalia, it has an annual turnover of over 10 million dollars.

On Tuesday, some 500 Somali fighters loyal to the last member of an alliance of warlords in Mogadishu, Abi Hassan Awale Qeydiid, surrendered. The final two-day battle between the Islamists and the warlords in Moghadishu killed almost 100 and injured some 200. The UIC control now nearly 95 percent of Somalia's towns.

The UN Security Council is considering a proposal by the British government to lift the arms embargo on Somalia, and allow an African peacekeeping force into the country.

Source: Csc/Ftr/Aki

Jul-12-06 15:21