Mogadishu, August 2, 2006 – The president of the Council of Islamic Courts (CIC) that rules the Somali capital on Wednesday accused the country's provisional government of delaying peace talks to plan an attack. "The Somali government's premier Ali Mohamed Gedi decided to postpone the peace talks in Khartoum because he wants to attack Mogadishu," CIC president Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said in an interview published on the online site of the Somali newspaper Xog-Xogaal.

Earlier Gedi announced that he had asked and obtained from the Arab League a postponement of the talks which were scheduled to start on Wednesday. Gedi said the move had been prompted by the resignation on Tuesday of four ministers from his cabinet in protest with the premier's policies.

The defections followed those of 19 provisional government officials last week who quit after Gedi allowed Ethiopian troops to enter the city of Baidoa where the cabinet is based.

Gedi asked the Arab League to set 15 August as the new date for the Khartoum talks.

Also on Wednesday, reports from Kismayo, the most important city in Somalia's southern region, said tensions were rising between supporters of the government and of the Islamic Courts. The main political movement in the area, the Alliance of the Juba Valley, had also split over those loyal to Gedi and those supporting the Islamists, the reports said.

In another sign that the Islamic Courts are going ahead with their intention to introduce Islamic practices in the areas under their control, female flight crew arriving at Mogadishu airport have been ordered to wear traditional Muslim headscarves.

Local airline Juba Airways, currently the only carrier to service the capital's airport since it was re-opened last month after 11 years, said they had instructed their employees to abide with Muslim dress code.

The Islamist Union of Islamic Courts established the CIC to govern Mogadishu and other areas of the country it controls.

Source: Ham/Aki