Somalia's government has signed a deal with a militia group to bring it on side before an expected military offensive against armed groups fighting to topple the administration.
Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca (ASWJ), which is made up of moderate Sufi Muslims, reached an agreement in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa on Monday to work together to battle al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam fighters.
Al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam have been fighting the western-backed transitional government since 2007.
They control much of southern and central Somalia, while government troops control a few blocks of the capital, Mogadishu.
ASWJ's spiritual leader, Sheikh Mahmoud Sheikh Hassan, said the groups would need financial support from the international community to integrate their administrative, leadership and military structures and fight al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam.
"This is not a fight or struggle against people but against an ideology," he said at the ceremony.
"The meaning of this agreement is to save the people of Somalia and the reputation of the Islamic faith."
Ancient Sufi tradition
Somalia has a Sufi tradition going back more than five centuries. The country's Sufis have been angered by the desecration of graves, the beheading of clerics, and bans on celebrating the birth of Prophet Muhammed imposed by the hardline Wahhabi fighters.
Al-Shabab, which professes loyalty to al-Qaeda, is battling to impose its own version of sharia (Islamic law) throughout Somalia.
IN DEPTH
Timeline: Somalia
Restoring Somalia
A long road to stability
Al-Shabab: Somali fighters undeterred
Somalia at a crossroads
Somaliland: Africa's isolated state
What next for Somalia?
Who are al-Shabab?
Riz Khan: The vanishing Somalis
The government Sharif Ahmed, Somalia's president, has agreed to implement a more moderate version of sharia.
Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, the Somali prime minister, said that under Monday's deal, Ahlu Sunna would be given five, as yet undetermined, posts in the cabinet and would appoint deputy commanders of the military, the police and the intelligence services.
"This agreement is a victory for peace and a crushing defeat for extremist groups," he said.
"This day will go into history as the day of peace for the Somali people and the region as a whole."
The government has said for several months it will launch a major offensive but has yet to do so. Rebels have stepped up attacks in various parts of the capital this month.
Hizbul Islam said Ahlu Sunna would just lose support by joining a government which has little influence outside Mogadishu and is often criticised as being corrupt and divided.
"The Addis agreement will not have any positive impact. It will only lead to the destruction of the so-called Ahlu Sunna," Sheikh Mohamed Osman, Hizbul Islam spokesman, told the Reuters news agency.
However, a resident in the Ahlu Sunna-held town of Dusamareb in central Somalia said the deal brought some hope.
"The power sharing deal is likely to reduce Somalia's chaos," Ali Suleiman said by telephone.
"We now smell peace: if the government and Ahlu Sunna have united, the rebels will be pushed from opposite sides and thus weakened."
Source : http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/03/20103165416919724.html
Showing posts with label Somalia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Somalia. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Somali capital clashes claim lives
Anti-government fighters have fired mortar bombs at the presidential palace in the Somali capital, prompting return fire by troops that killed at least 16 people, medical officials and residents say.
Residents and medical officials said on Monday that several bombs hit Mogadishu's northern Suqa Holaha, or livestock market, district.
"At least 16 people died and 71 others were wounded in four districts of Mogadishu," Ali Yasin Gedi, vice-chairman of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation, told the Reuters news agency.
The latest clashes come days after fighters fired mortar bombs on the presidential palace to disrupt a ceremony marking President Sharif Ahmed's first year in office.
More than 30 people were wounded in the fighting, Ali Muse, the head of the ambulance service in Mogadishu, said.
Fighters from al-Shabab, which the US says is al-Qaeda's proxy in Somalia, routinely fire at the hilltop Villa Somali palace from other parts of Mogadishu.
Troops at the palace often launch shells back.
More AU troops
At an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital on Friday, Ali Jama Jangeli, Somalia's foreign minister, called for more AU forces to help about 5,000 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi who are currently based in Mogadishu.
Earlier, African leaders attending the summit expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in Somalia, saying it had posed an enormous threat to world peace.
The delegates also criticised the international community for turning a blind eye to the Somalia crisis.
The foreign ministers of Kenya and Sudan backed the call for more troops, with Djibouti saying it would send 450 soldiers soon.
But Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, al-Shabab's spokesman, called on Djibouti to reconsider its decision.
"We warn the Djibouti government and strongly recommend that it not send its troops here, otherwise there will be bad consequences for it," Rage said in Mogadishu on Sunday.
Violence has killed at least 21,000 people in the failed Horn of Africa nation since the start of 2007 and driven another 1.5 million from their homes, sparking one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.
Somalia has had no central government for nearly two decades, leading to the rise of warlords, heavily armed militias and pirates terrorising shipping mainly in the Gulf of Aden.
Western security agencies say the country has become a safe haven for fighters who are using it to plot attacks across the region and beyond.
Source: Al Jazeera
Residents and medical officials said on Monday that several bombs hit Mogadishu's northern Suqa Holaha, or livestock market, district.
"At least 16 people died and 71 others were wounded in four districts of Mogadishu," Ali Yasin Gedi, vice-chairman of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation, told the Reuters news agency.
The latest clashes come days after fighters fired mortar bombs on the presidential palace to disrupt a ceremony marking President Sharif Ahmed's first year in office.
More than 30 people were wounded in the fighting, Ali Muse, the head of the ambulance service in Mogadishu, said.
Fighters from al-Shabab, which the US says is al-Qaeda's proxy in Somalia, routinely fire at the hilltop Villa Somali palace from other parts of Mogadishu.
Troops at the palace often launch shells back.
More AU troops
At an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital on Friday, Ali Jama Jangeli, Somalia's foreign minister, called for more AU forces to help about 5,000 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi who are currently based in Mogadishu.
Earlier, African leaders attending the summit expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in Somalia, saying it had posed an enormous threat to world peace.
The delegates also criticised the international community for turning a blind eye to the Somalia crisis.
The foreign ministers of Kenya and Sudan backed the call for more troops, with Djibouti saying it would send 450 soldiers soon.
But Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, al-Shabab's spokesman, called on Djibouti to reconsider its decision.
"We warn the Djibouti government and strongly recommend that it not send its troops here, otherwise there will be bad consequences for it," Rage said in Mogadishu on Sunday.
Violence has killed at least 21,000 people in the failed Horn of Africa nation since the start of 2007 and driven another 1.5 million from their homes, sparking one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.
Somalia has had no central government for nearly two decades, leading to the rise of warlords, heavily armed militias and pirates terrorising shipping mainly in the Gulf of Aden.
Western security agencies say the country has become a safe haven for fighters who are using it to plot attacks across the region and beyond.
Source: Al Jazeera
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