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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Jul 26 2010 - 07:06:57 EDT
Hands off Somalia, Shabaab warns AU
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Monday, 26 July 2010 10:50
By Abdulkadir Khalif, Citizen Correspondent, Mogadishu
The Somali militant group al Shabaab yesterday warned African leaders
meeting in Kampala against continuing with their "hostile" policy towards
war-ravaged Somalia.
A militant leader allied to the group, Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal, said
those who would ignore the warning would "cry like they did in Kampala", in
reference to the twin bomb attacks that killed over 70 people in the Ugandan
capital earlier this month. Al Shabaab swiftly claimed responsibility for
the July 11 attacks that targeted people watching the World Cup final on
television.
Al Shabaab's warning coincided with the start of the AU Heads of State
Summit, which is expected to discuss the long-running conflict in Somalia
and its potential to spilling over the country's borders.
Al Shabaab and its allies are fiercely opposed to plans to send more
peacekeeping troops to Somalia, in a bid to end almost two decades of
lawlessness and bloodletting in the Horn of Africa country.
Uganda tightened security ahead of the AU Summit after Al Shabaab urged
people in Mogadishu to participate in a jihad (holy war) against the
country's "enemies".
Sheikh Bilal told a news conference in Mogadishu that African leaders
meeting in Kampala should not foment chaos by taking a "wrong approach".
He added that the AU had worsened the situation by endorsing what he said
was Ethiopia's occupation of Somalia, and accused the continental body of
presiding over the "massacre" of innocent Somalis by Ethiopia and later
Ugandan and Burundian troops operating under the auspices of the African
Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
"Amisom peacekeepers are shelling the Somali people day and night," said
Sheikh Bilal adding: "They are acting with the express approval of the
African Union."
He said AU leaders should draw lessons from the deadly blasts that rocked
Kampala a fortnight ago.
"The twin explosions showed that the Somali youth more than capable of
avenging for their killing of their brothers and sisters in Mogadishu,"
Sheikh Bilal said.
He warned Guinea, Djibouti and other countries that had pledged to assist
the beleaguered transitional government in Mogadishu to think twice before
sending troops to Somalia.
"This is an American project, implemented through the AU," Sheikh Bilal
said. "Our reaction will make people in other African capitals cry like
those in Kampala."
Meanwhile, the top al Shabaab official in southern Mogadishu urged residents
of the shattered capital to join the jihad against the government and
foreign troops.
Sheikh Mohamed Abu Abdallah said the group had set up several registration
centres, and urged people to contribute their wealth and lives to the holy
war against the "puppet government" and Amisom peacekeepers.
"We ask everybody to get ready and participate in the jihad, and strongly
warn against any hesitation.this is a war that must be won," he said.
Al Shabaab officials in central and southern Somalia have in recent days
been calling on the group's supporters to join in the violent campaign
against the transitional government and AU peacekeepers.
Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, the al Shabaab governor of Banadir region
(Mogadishu and surrounding areas), urged residents of the capital to take
part in an all-out jihad.
US Attorney General Eric Holder was scheduled to address the summit in
Kampala yesterday, and was expected to address the July 11 suicide bomb
attacks carried out by al Shabaab rebels.
US intelligence agencies have warned of growing links between al Shabaab in
Somalia and al Qaeda's network in East Africa. The Obama administration has
made it a priority to track and target top militants in both groups.
Meanwhile, the head of the AU Commission, Mr Jean Ping, has accused the UN
Security Council of not giving the crisis in Somalia the attention it
deserves.
"The question of Somalia has been forgotten by the Security Council. We have
been requesting the Security Council, but all they recommend are
peacekeeping troops, which are attacked by insurgents, but are not allowed
to hit back.
"We are now saying we cannot accept this anymore. We have changed the
mandate in Somalia that if you are attacked, you have to defend yourself,"
he told a news conference in Kampala.
Mr Ping said a decision had been reached to send at least 2,000 more
soldiers to Mogadishu from Djibouti, which the country hosting a US military
base in Africa. Guinea is also ready to send troops.
He added that Amisom troops required five additional helicopters to boost
their strength in Somalia.
Focus of the AU Summit has gradually shifted from its theme on maternal and
infant mortality and health to regional security.
On Thursday, Uganda's East African Cooperation minister, Mr Eriya Kategaya,
told reporters that Uganda and Burundi were ready to deploy extra troops as
long as there was support in the form of equipment and wages.
The additional troops will increase the number of soldiers serving under
Amisom to 8,100 by the end of August from the current 6,100 troops
contributed by Uganda and Burundi.
Additional reporting by Evelyn Lirri and Solomon Muyita in Kampala
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