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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Jul 29 2010 - 11:12:55 EDT
Militant Alliance Adds to Somalia's Turmoil
By MOHAMED IBRAHIM and
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/jeffrey_gettle
man/index.html?inline=nyt-per> JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: July 28, 2010
NAIROBI, Kenya - An insurgent commander based in the semiautonomous region
of Puntland in northern
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/so
malia/index.html?inline=nyt-geo> Somalia has pledged his allegiance to
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/world/africa/13policy.html?scp=7&sq=the%2
0shabab&st=cse> the Shabab militant group, a move that threatens to
destabilize a part of Somalia that had been relatively peaceful.
The commander, Sheik Mohamed Said Atom, an insurgent warlord, said he would
fight the Puntland government until it agreed to impose strict Islamic law.
His forces have recently clashed with Puntland soldiers, but it was not
until this week that he announced his alignment with the
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/al-shab
ab/index.html?inline=nyt-org> Shabab, the group that
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/world/africa/13uganda.html?_r=1&scp=9&sq=
uganda&st=cse> claimed responsibility for the bombings in Uganda this month.
"Shabab are our brothers," Mr. Atom said in a message broadcast by Somali
radio stations and Web sites on Wednesday. "We are members of the Shabab,
and the Shabab are members of us. We have good contacts. We are united in
our objectives."
Puntland is the northeastern corner of Somalia and had been spared much of
the incessant warfare of recent years. It is controlled by a clan-based
administration and was one of the few areas of Somalia safe enough for
Western aid workers and journalists to work on a regular basis.
But Puntland is also
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/09/world/africa/09pirate.html?scp=1&sq=gettl
eman%20spaghetti%20camel&st=cse> home to many pirate dens and human
trafficking rings. Western officials have long suspected that the Puntland
government collaborates with organized crime.
In the past few days, Mr. Atom's fighters have waged an intense battle
against Puntland's forces in the Galgala mountains near the town of
Boosaaso. Puntland's authorities said 13 combatants had been killed,
including one of Mr. Atom's top commanders, which Mr. Atom confirmed.
Still, Mr. Atom seemed unbowed. He remains holed up in the mountains and
told his followers that Shariah, the legal code of Islam based on the Koran,
had been given a bad name.
"The people have been misinformed; they were told that Shariah cuts the
hands and feet, and that's not the way," he said. "So far, no one has had
his hands or feet cut."
It is not clear if the Shabab, who have carried out public executions and
amputations in areas they control in south-central Somalia, are providing
weapons or fighters to Mr. Atom.
He said that a few years ago he tried to persuade Puntland officials to
impose Islamic law but that they tried to arrest him.
"That's why I went to the mountains and started recruiting young jihadists
and holy warriors against them," he said.
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