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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Sep 01 2010 - 17:06:51 EDT
Somali Islamists tell president to step down
Wed Sep 1, 2010 12:45pm GMT
* Islamists claim to have restored order in much of country
* AU condemns killing of peacekeepers
* U.S. official says al Shabaab split over foreign fighters
(Adds details, African Union statement)
By Abdi Sheikh and Mohamed Ahmed
MOGADISHU, Sept 1 (Reuters) - A Somali rebel group has told the Horn of
Africa nation's embattled president to resign and said hardline Islamists
had succeeded where the government had failed, in establishing order in
areas they controlled.
Hizbul Islam, which has waged a three-year insurgency against the fragile
interim government alongside the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group, urged
Somalia's Muslims to unite and join the Islamists' struggle.
"President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed ought to quit. He has nothing for the people
except a call for more foreign troops that massacre Somalis," Sheikh Hassan
Dahir Aweys, leader of Hizbul Islam, told reporters on Tuesday evening.
Hardline Islamists control vast tracts of south and central Somalia and much
of the capital Mogadishu, hemming the government into just a few blocks
manned by African Union (AU) peacekeepers.
In recent days, the militants have intensified their offensive on government
targets and killed four Ugandan peacekeepers deployed near the presidential
palace.
Bent on imposing a strict version of sharia, Islamic law, on the nation, the
militants routinely carry out stonings and amputations and have banned
football, music and school bells in areas they control. They claim to have
restored law and order.
JOIN THE JIHAD
"I urge Islamists to unite. Areas under the control of Islamists are
peaceful. They are the good Muslims who can rule the country," Aweys said.
Political analysts are at odds over the best way to tackle the insurgency.
A U.S. military official said on Wednesday that foreign militants were not
universally accepted by al Shabaab, but that outside powers would find it
hard to use their presence to divide and weaken the insurgency.
More than 150 people have died over the last 10 days during the latest
escalation of violence in Mogadishu, medics said. On Tuesday, a roadside
blast and heavy artillery fire between insurgents and AU-backed government
troops killed at least 18 people.
The African Union on Wednesday condemned an attack on Monday in which four
Ugandan peacekeepers were killed when insurgents fired mortars at the
presidential palace.
"The Chairperson of the (AU) Commission ... reiterates the commitment and
determination of the AU to stand by and support the people of Somalia in
confronting and defeating these anti-peace elements," the AU said in a
statement.
Ali Muse, coordinator of the ambulance service, said many of Tuesday's
casualties were civilians hit by shells landing in and around the Bakara
market, Mogadishu's largest bazaar and a known rebel stronghold.
Nine people were killed when a roadside bomb hit two minibuses, doctors at
the Medina Hospital said.
"The bomb exploded on the buses ahead of the one I was on. Blood and pieces
of human flesh littered the road," witness Ismail Musamil told Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Abdi Guled; Editing by Richard Lough and Tim
Pearce)
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
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