BUURHAKABA, Somalia Nov 25 - A Somali Islamist delegation led by the group’s defense chief arrived in Buurhakaba on Saturday, even as the second batch of Ugandan soldiers reached Baidoa, seat of the interim Somali government.

Yusuf “Indha Ade” Mohamed Said, the Islamists’ head of general security, and other Islamist militia officials arrived in Buurhakaba, a Bay regional town on the main Baidoa-to-Mogadishu road.

Indha Ade and his militia convoy arrived to reinforce Islamist militia positions in and around Buurhakaba against an allied military buildup in Baidoa, one official said.

On Thursday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said his military was “prepared” for a war against the Islamist militia.

Ugandan soldiers

Some 320 fresh soldiers from Uganda unloaded from a large military plane at the Baidoa airstrip overnight Friday.

Security had been tight around the Baidoa airstrip since early morning with commercial aircraft restricted from landing, residents reported.

The Ugandan troops are an addition to other troops from neighboring Ethiopia. A recent UN report named both Uganda and Ethiopia among 10 nations importing weapons into Somalia despite a 1992 arms embargo.

Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president, has been a vocal supporter of military intervention on behalf of the interim Somali government.

Source: Garowe Online