Washington has never publicly confirmed or denied support for the
ARPCT warlords. But US officials have told AFP they provided money and
intelligence to help to rein in the advance of the Islamists, which
they viewed as "creeping Talibanisation".
A US-inspired group to promote reconciliation in Somalia held its
first meeting at the United Nations this week and vowed to foster good
governance in Somalia.
The International Somalia Contact group so far includes
representatives from the United States, Norway, Britain, Sweden,
Italy, the European Union and Tanzania.
.
US military vessel picks up defeated Somali warlords from Mogadishu
06-17-2006, 11h26
MOGADISHU (AFP)
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=128983
A US military vessel has picked up two defeated Somali warlords from
Mogadishu, while a third defected to the Islamic Courts militia now in
control of the capital, officials said.
Musa Sudi Yalahwo and Bashir Raghe Shirar, who were under the protection
of their clan in northern Mogadishu's Karan districts, took a boat to an
approaching US military vessel on the coast, while Omar Muhamoud Finnish
joined the Union of Islamic Courts, they said Saturday.
"Yalahwo and Shirar took a boat and were picked up by the US ship. No
one knows where they are heading but they said they will be back," a
bodyguard of the warlords said and several residents confirmed.
The three were members of the US-backed Alliance for the Restoration of
Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), formed in February to help fight
the Islamists, who are accused by Western intelligence of having links
with extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda and harbouring foreign fighters.
They were among a group of brutal faction chiefs who had divided and
ruled the lawless capital since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre
in 1991.
The Islamic militia took control of the capital early this month and
then began pushing north, seizing the towns of Jowhar in Middle Shabelle
region and Gialalassi in Hiraan.
They are now targeting Beledweyne, the main town in Hiraan approaching
the Ethiopian border, about 300 kilometres (190 miles) north of the capital.
In addition, warlords Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, Issa Botan Alin -- who were
evicted from the capital early this month -- and local warlord Abdu Nure
Said surrendered their weapons to the Islamic Courts in Galgudud region,
neighbouring Hiraan in central Somalia, residents said.
Islamists started setting up new systems of governance in Jowhar, 90
kilometres (55 miles) north of Mogadishu, after winning the backing of
influential clan elders and pledged to help newly formed administrations
ensure security.
Since the clashes erupted in Mogadishu in February, at least 360 people
have been killed and more than 2,000 others wounded, many of them civilians.
Washington's concerns over the rising power of Islamic radicals in
Somalia manifested themselves in February when it sponsored the creation
of the heavily-funded ARPCT, giving the alliance cash and intelligence
support to hunt down extremists allegedly hiding in Somalia.
The Islamic Courts courts have denied the charges against them,
insisting that they have instead slowly managed to restore stability in
Somalia, a feat that the United Nations, the United States and the
transitional Somali government have failed to accomplish.
Since Barre was toppled, Somalia has been wracked by factional fighting,
scuppering more than 14 internationally-backed efforts to restore a
functional government in the Horn of Africa nation of about 10 million
largely impoverished people.
Washington has never publicly confirmed or denied support for the ARPCT
warlords. But US officials have told AFP they provided money and
intelligence to help to rein in the advance of the Islamists, which they
viewed as "creeping Talibanisation".
A US-inspired group to promote reconciliation in Somalia held its first
meeting at the United Nations this week and vowed to foster good
governance in Somalia.
The International Somalia Contact group so far includes representatives
from the United States, Norway, Britain, Sweden, Italy, the European
Union and Tanzania.
AFP
