AP News, January 4th, 2007
Somalia's interior minister said Thursday that thousands of Islamic fighters still pose a threat in the capital, while a Somali government spokesman said government troops, backed by Ethiopian soldiers, are fighting about 600 Islamic militiamen in the south.
Government forces have surrounded the Islamic militiamen "from every direction" in the southwestern district of Badade, near the Kenyan border, Somali government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari told The Associated Press. "The fighting is going on," Dinari said. "We hope they will either surrender or be killed by our troops."
In the past 10 days, Ethiopian-backed government forces have driven out the Islamic movement that had controlled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia for more than six months. The Islamic movement has vowed to keep fighting, raising the specter of an Iraq-style guerrilla war.
Kenya officially closed its border with its neighbor, fearing an exodus of militants and refugees. Meanwhile, a top U.S. diplomat in Ethiopia said that she hopes African peacekeepers will be in Somalia by the end of the month.
In the past 10 days, Ethiopian-backed government forces have driven out the Islamic movement that had controlled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia for more than six months. The Islamic movement has vowed to keep fighting, raising the specter of an Iraq-style guerrilla war.
"There are 3,500 Islamists hiding in Mogadishu and the surrounding areas and they are likely to destabilize the security of the city," Interior Minister Hussein Aideed said at a news conference.
Aideed did not explain the source of his information or what prompted his comments. Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi later Thursday tried to play down the threat and disputed Aideed's number of Islamists hiding in the capital, although he did not offer his own estimate.
Gedi said his government would begin efforts to disarm Somalis by seizing large arms caches located around Mogadishu. A house-by-house search will follow, the prime minister told journalists, without saying when that will happen.
Thursday was the deadline for people in Mogadishu to surrender their arms. Gedi said the disarmament program was progressing but offered no details. By Wednesday, only a handful of people had heeded Gedi's demand and turned in any weapons in the capital.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju said, meanwhile, that his country had officially closed its border with Somalia. The U.N.'s humanitarian agency has said there are thousands of Somali refugees reported to be near the border, unable to cross into Kenya.
Tuju said Wednesday that Somali government troops were not threatening civilians so he didn't believe Somalis should be trying to cross the border into Kenya. However, he stopped short of saying the border was closed, saying Kenya would strictly enforce its tight screening process of refugees to ensure no foreign fighters slipped into the country.
On Thursday, he said the border was closed, but did not say when the decision was made or how long it would remain that way.
A Kenyan security helicopter and air force plane were fired at by unidentified gunmen on either side of the border on Wednesday. Tuju said he had no information on the incidents.
In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer said Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had promised that he could supply between 1,000-2,000 troops to protect Somalia's transitional government and train its troops. She said the pledge was made by Museveni in a phone call to President Bush.
Ugandan officials say they need help paying for the operation and a clear exit strategy.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has pressed the international community to send in peacekeepers quickly, saying his forces cannot play that role and cannot afford to stay long.
"The people of Somalia need to come together," Frazer said earlier. "The Council of Islamic Courts are no longer, though there may be remnants or individuals, and we continue to push for dialogue."
Aideed said that there are about 12,000-15,000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia, and when peacekeepers arrive in the country the Ethiopians will leave. Ethiopia has put the number much lower, at around 4,000, and said it would pull out within weeks.
With the Islamic movement's fighters on the run, concern has grown about extremists believed to be among them. Three al-Qaida suspects wanted in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa are believed to be leaders of the Islamic movement. The movement denies having any links to al-Qaida.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday that U.S. Navy vessels deployed off the Somali coast were looking for al-Qaida and allied militants trying to escape by sea.
Somalia's last effective central government fell in 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other. The government was formed two years ago with the help of the United Nations, but has been weakened by internal rifts.
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Associated Press Writer Chris Tomlinson in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contributed to this report.
