By Abdiqani Hassan and Hussein Ali Nur
BOSASSO/HARGEYSA, July 10, 2008 – Troops from Somaliland and Puntland were bracing for a possible showdown on Thursday as they compete to rescue four German tourists held hostage there by pirates.
The Germans -- two men, a woman and a child -- were kidnapped in Yemen 17 days ago. They are now held in thickly wooded mountains near Las Qoray town, in a disputed region between Somaliland and Puntland.
"We have surrounded the pirates," Gurey Osman Salah, the Somaliland commander in Las Qoray, told Reuters by telephone.
"We will not allow anyone near the area and we will not hesitate to use force."
The move has angered the Puntland authorities, who withdrew their forces last week in order to avoid a clash with Somaliland troops, after local elders called for space to negotiate with the pirates and persuaded both sides to pull back.
International recognition has so far eluded both breakaway enclaves, and security experts say officials on both sides think rescuing the Germans would help their cause.
In Puntland's busy port city of Bosasso , residents said fighters were now preparing for redeployment, raising fears of a battle. Elders who tried to negotiate with the kidnappers were said to have withdrawn to Baran, south of Las Qoray.
"The troops have tested their weapons. We are preparing a force to be sent to Las Qoray," a senior Puntland police officer told Reuters. He declined to be named.
Somaliland and Puntland, which are relatively peaceful compared with the rest of chaotic Somalia , have fought over the disputed regions on their border in the past, and the leftovers of war still pose a risk to the people.
In Puntland's administrative capital Garowe, witnesses said at least four children died on Thursday and seven others were wounded when a boy found an old hand grenade and threw it onto a pitch where other boys were playing football. (Writing by Guled Mohamed; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Duglas Hamilton) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
Source: Reuters
