http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=109679&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21
Boy dies in Somali protest Published: Tuesday, 26 September, 2006, 10:17 AM Doha Time *KISMAYO:* Islamist fighters in the Somali port city of Kismayo opened fire yesterday towards residents burning tyres, throwing stones and chanting to protest against the Islamist takeover of the city hours before. A 13-year-old boy was shot dead while protesting, and two other people were injured as violence raged for several hours in Somalia's third biggest city, witnesses said. "We have been taken over by extremists, the Islamic courts have taken us by force, and now they are firing at us," protester Dahabo Dirie said. Riding trucks with machine guns, the Islamists guarded main streets and forbade gatherings after the protests died down. The Mogadishu-based Islamists poured into Kismayo overnight to extend their grip on south-central Somalia and effectively flank the powerless central government on three sides. Ministers accused the Islamists of mounting the offensive with fighters from Eritrea, Pakistan and Yemen. "There are foreign forces ... which attacked Kismayo," Somali Interior Minister Hussein Mohamed Farah Aideed told the Al Jazeera network. Further inflaming the situation, witnesses said more troops from the Islamists' arch-enemy - Ethiopia - were heading to the government's provincial base in Baidoa to bolster President Abdullahi Yusuf's weak military capacity. Residents in the town of Berdale, about 60kms from Baidoa, said they saw about 400 Ethiopian soldiers. "There were about 50 trucks," said resident Mohamed Isak. Addis Ababa routinely denies incursions into Somalia. The government, whose strongest regional ally is Ethiopia, denounced the Kismayo takeover as a breach of an agreement reached during peace talks in Sudan to halt further military expansion and said the Islamists had recruited foreign fighters. "They brought into the country weapons, explosives and foreign troops who were trained in terrorism," said Minister of State for Information Khadija Mohamed Diriye. Kismayo residents, near Kenya's border, said some arriving Islamist fighters had stirred up an already tense mood by burning the Somali flag and raising an Islamic one, after taking the city hours earlier without firing a shot. Thousands of men and women earlier shouted "we don't want the Islamic Courts" and tossed stones at the militia trucks. Islamist spokesman Abdirahim Ibrahim Mudey said the movement, which took over Mogadishu from US-backed warlords in June, had moved into Kismayo to prevent African troops using it as an entry point or base under a proposed peacekeeping force. The African Union wants to send troops to Somalia in a move supported by the government but opposed by the Islamists. "We heard Ugandan and Ethiopian troops were heading to Kismayo via the Kenyan-Somali border ... we will defend ourselves," Mudey said. Kismayo is an important fishing, agricultural and livestock centre, a relatively prosperous city in a war-shattered nation. Other than the semi-autonomous northern enclave of Puntland and the self-declared independent enclave of Somaliland, the Islamists now control all Somalia's key ports. Reuters [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
