From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat May 23 2009 - 05:34:30 EDT
Fighting in Mogadishu for second day
Sat May 23, 2009 8:11am GMT
By Mohamed Ahmed
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Government forces fought hardline Islamist insurgents
on Saturday in Somalia's capital for a second day running to try to regain
control of the city.
Heavy fighting killed at least 45 people, more than half of them civilians,
and wounded nearly 200 on Friday in one of the bloodiest days of combat in
Mogadishu in months.
Neighbouring states and Western governments fear Somalia, which has been
mired in civil war for 18 years, could become a haven for militants linked
to al Qaeda unless the new government under President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed
can defeat them.
Residents said there was sporadic gunfire on Saturday but feared the
fighting would intensify after reports of rebel reinforcements coming to
confront a government offensive.
Islamist insurgents took up arms in 2007 to drive out Ethiopian troops
propping up a Western-backed government which failed to wield control much
of the Horn of Africa nation.
The Ethiopians withdrew at the start of 2009 and an Islamist president was
elected in neighbouring Djibouti in January. But the insurgents have
intensified attacks against the new administration and African Union
peacekeepers in Mogadishu.
Somalia's government has accused Eritrea of supporting al Shabaab insurgents
with planeloads of AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and other
weapons.
SANCTIONS, NO-FLY ZONE
The African Union stepped up pressure on the Horn of Africa nation late on
Friday by calling for U.N. Security Council sanctions, a no fly-zone and sea
blockade.
"(The United Nations Security Council should) impose sanctions against all
those foreign actors, both within and outside the region, especially
Eritrea, providing support to the armed groups," the 53-member body said in
a statement.
Eritrea's president denies the charge and blames American agents for
spreading lies to blacken his government's name.
Since the start of 2007, fighting has killed at least 17,700 civilians and
driven more than 1 million from their homes. About 3 million Somalis survive
on emergency food aid.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR says 49,000 people have fled
fighting in Mogadishu in the past two weeks.
Al Shabaab, which Washington says has close ties to al Qaeda, and Islamist
guerrilla group Hizbul Islam have been spearheading attacks on the
government, allied militia and African Union peacekeepers.
Until Friday, pro-government forces had not looked strong enough to break
Shabaab's grip on parts of Mogadishu.
But last week's defection of a veteran warlord with hundreds of fighters
under his command may have prompted Ahmed to order the new offensive.
Defence Minister Mohamed Abdi Gandi said on Friday the fighting would go on
until the insurgents were beaten.
Experts say pro-government forces will be hard-pushed to extend their reach
to distant provinces, increasing the risk of protracted fighting in a
country that has known little but violence and anarchy since a dictator was
ousted in 1991.
An important figure in any reconciliation would be hardline opposition
leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who ran Mogadishu and much of southern
Somalia alongside Ahmed in late 2006.
The two Islamists -- Aweys was always considered the more hardline -- split
after Ahmed joined the peace process.
"Somalia has no government we recognise," Aweys told Reuters in an interview
on Friday. "We should not be deceived by Westerners like Sharif."
"We shall defeat the government soon, God willing."
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----