Somali Islamists urge pressure on Ethiopia to withdraw troops
June 19, 2006 (JOWHAR, Somalia) — The Islamic alliance in control of key areas of Somalia on Monday urged world powers to pressure Ethiopia to withdraw troops from Somali territory, saying it would spawn more bloodshed in the Horn of Africa nation.
Islamic clerics said several hundred Ethiopian troops had crossed into Somalia over the weekend and were moving toward the headquarters of the fledgling Somali transitional government in Baidoa, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) from the capital.
“We call on the international community to pressure Ethiopia remove its troops from Somalia territory in order to avoid another conflict,” said Sheikh Ali Hassan, an official from the Joint Islamic Courts.
The Islamic militia, which routed US-backed warlords in recent weeks, has been growing in influence, taking control in Mogadishu and several outlying regions and threatening the already limited power of the Somali transitional government.
On Monday it imposed Sharia law in the former warlord stronghold of Jowhar, about 90 kilometres north of Mogadishu, and appointed a panel of three hardline clerics to oversee its implementation.
“This is a temporary Islamic administration that will help in the restoration of justice and order in this very important town,” Joint Islamic Courts chief Sheikh Shariff Sheikh Ahmed declared after the decision was taken by an inter-clan panel.
Other Islamic tribunals have been set up in the central Galgudud region by hardline cleric Sheikh Dahir Hassan Aweys — who founded the alliance of Islamic courts in 1994 — and the Jowhar administration expands Sharia rule across what was previously a secular country.
Over the weekend Ahmed warned that involvement in Somalia’s internal affairs by its historic rival Ethiopia — by helping shore up the Baidoa government’s forces — would fuel more conflict in a country already savaged by 15 years of interclan fighting.
Addis Ababa has denied the incursion charge but said it had boosted troop levels along the countries’ common border because of unspecified provocation by the Islamists in Beledweyne, a main regional town near the border with Ethiopia.
It also said the Somali government must be protected from attacks.
In addition, residents in Beledweyne said the largely secular Ethiopia was annoyed by local preacher Sheikh Dahir Moalim, who had set up Islamic courts in the outpost after US-backed warlords lost their hold over the Hirran region.
The largely powerless government, which has reinforced its defences, has meanwhile accused the courts using the cover of an Ethiopian incursion in order to attack Baidoa.
The lawmakers suggested their government seat would be the latest victim of a fresh Islamist push into new territory, after the militias took Mogadishu earlier this month and extended their control to outposts near the Ethiopian border.
The fighting over four months of clashes with the US-backed warlords alliance claimed at least 360 people and wounded more than 2,000 others.
The Islamists have argued vehemently against accusations by the United States and others that they are linked to Al-Qaeda and harbour foreign fighters.
Attempts by Yemen to launch mediation talks failed when the Baidoa government refused to meet the Islamists until they surrendered their newly conquered territory and recognised President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as the legitimate Somali leader.
Somalia has lacked an effective government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991. More than 14 international efforts have failed to restore a functioning administration in the lawless nation of 10 million.
Meanwhile in Addis Ababa, the African Union decided to send a team to Somalia to assess the feasibility of a peacekeeping force.
The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which groups seven east African countries, is planning to despatch such a force but has run into problems including, notably, that the Islamists have vowed to attack peacekeepers should they step inside Somalia.
(ST)