From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Aug 08 2009 - 06:17:49 EDT
INTERVIEW-Somali president calls for help vs militants
Fri Aug 7, 2009 3:49pm GMT
* President says his government cannot beat insurgents alone
* Security threat could become uncontainable
* Militants vow to fight on and defeat U.S. plans
* Ten <javascript:void(0);> civilians killed in Mogadishu fighting
(Updates with 10 killed in Mogadishu, paragraph 8)
By Abdiaziz Hassan
NAIROBI, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed asked for
more international help on Friday to battle hardline insurgents after
holding what he called a historic meeting with U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary <javascript:void(0);> Clinton.
Clinton pledged strong support for Ahmed's fragile administration after
meeting him in Nairobi on Thursday, and she warned that Washington would
take action against Eritrea if it did not stop supporting Somalia's rebels.
Ahmed told Reuters the discussions showed the United States' commitment to
restoring peace in Somalia. But he said his government, which controls only
parts of <javascript:void(0);> the capital Mogadishu, needed more help from
overseas to beat the militants.
"The Somali government alone can not bring a solution to the mayhem these
groups are causing," Ahmed said in an interview.
"If we don't confront them with the assistance of the world, the situation
may turn into an uncontainable security threat."
Western security agencies say the Horn of Africa nation is a haven for
extremists planning attacks in the region and beyond.
Australian police said this week they had uncovered a plot to attack a
Sydney army base by men they said had links to al Shabaab, which Washington
says is al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia.
In the latest fighting, 10 civilians including a child were killed as
insurgents and African Union (AU) peacekeepers exchanged mortar barrages in
Mogadishu, residents said.
Ahmed said African nations wanted to help, but needed money from the West.
He praised Burundi for sending a battalion of 850 soldiers last week,
bringing the strength of the AU peacekeeping force in the capital to more
than 5,000.
And he said foreign militants in al Shabaab's ranks had imported a hardline
version of <javascript:void(0);> Islam that most Somalis rejected.
"NEW-STYLE GANGSTERS"
"They are using religion as political tool, which we will not allow. Islam
is a religion of peace and harmony. I cannot set a deadline for the
liberation of Mogadishu, but we will free our people from these new-style
gangsters," he said.
"We are working on reforming the security forces and using other civil
structures that reject these foreign ideas, and I hope the (whole) capital
will be under government control soon."
He appealed for Asmara to stop supporting the rebels: "Eritrea can change
its approach and play a peaceful role instead of becoming a destabilising
force in the region." Eritrea denies funding or arming Somalia's militants.
An al Shabaab spokesman in Mogadishu said it would fight on.
"We shall always make the U.S. plan for Somalia fail," Sheikh Ali Mohamud
Rage told reporters. "We shall fight with any forces they bring and we shall
win in the end."
Clinton said Washington saw Ahmed's government as the best hope for some
time for a return to stability. He was elected in January under a
U.N.-brokered process that was Somalia's 15th attempt to set up a central
government since 1991.
Ahmed, a moderate Islamist cleric, shook hands with Clinton after Thursday's
joint news conference.
It was the first time the Somali leader had publicly shaken hands with a
female diplomat -- not a big deal for most Somalis, but a move that could
open him up to even more criticism from his hardline Islamist insurgent
foes.
"The meeting was historic and a great chance for Somalia," he said.
Speaking in Pretoria on the second leg of a seven-nation African tour,
Clinton said Ahmed had asked for help providing medical services and
materials for schools so his government could deliver basic services as they
pushed back the rebels.
"Now, we are also going to work to ensure that government is democratic,"
she said. "They have made certain comments about their desire to have
elections within the next year or two, if they are able to do so within the
security environment." (Additional reporting by Abdi Guled, Ibrahim Mohammed
and Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu and Alison Raymond in Pretoria; Editing by
Daniel Wallis)
C <javascript:void(0);> Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Fighting kills at least 17 in Somali pirate port
Sat Aug 8, 2009 9:27am GMT
* Residents flee clashes in Haradheere
* Rebel leader Aweys vows to fight on in Mogadishu
(Adds details, pirate quote, Aweys statement)
By Abdi Sheikh and Abdi Guled
MOGADISHU, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Gunbattles between clan militiamen killed at
least 17 people and wounded 30 on Saturday at a pirate stronghold on the
coast of Somalia, witnesses said.
Local man Farah Aden told Reuters by satellite telephone that the fighting
began overnight and became heavier in the morning, forcing most of
Haradheere's residents to flee.
"The two clans are fighting over land and a girl who was raped in the
forest. Unfortunately, the battles spread into town ... Fighting is going on
fiercely," he said.
Somalia has been torn by civil war since 1991, and the government of
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed controls only small pockets of the capital
Mogadishu.
Pirates who attack vessels using the strategic shipping lanes linking Europe
to Asia through the Gulf of Aden operate from several remote coastal bases
including Haradheere.
One pirate in the lawless central Somali port said he was worried the
bloodshed would hurt the sea gangs' profits.
"We are afraid our business will stop if the clashes continue," the pirate,
who gave his name as Mohamed, told Reuters by satellite phone from
Haradheere.
"We are all members of these two clans, and we are worried that this fight
might end up being taken out onto the ocean."
FAILED STATE
Violence in Somalia has killed more than 18,000 people since the start of
2007 and uprooted another 1 million. Western security agencies say the
failed Horn of Africa state is a haven for extremists plotting attacks in
the region and beyond.
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Ahmed in
neighbouring Kenya and pledged strong support and more aid for his fragile
administration.
Ahmed's security forces are battling hardline Islamist rebels including the
al Shabaab group, which Washington accuses of being al Qaeda's proxy in
Somalia.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the prominent leader of another insurgent group,
Hizbul Islam, issued a statement in Mogadishu on Saturday condemning U.S.
policy and vowing to fight on.
"We thought the Obama administration would positively change Somalia's
politics, but it has worsened," Aweys said.
"America wants to colonise all the world's governments, particularly Muslim
countries, to loot their natural resources. We shall continue fighting until
we reach our goal." (Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Jon Boyle)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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