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8 months on, Somalia's government cannot tame Mogadishu
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 29 - 08 - 2007

The killings in Mogadishu, Somalia's
bloodstained capital, are not going away. Nearly every day,
the city endures street battles, roadside bombs, showers of
bullets, accoridng to AP.
This is not how it was supposed to be.
Eight months after the U.N.-backed government supported by
troops from neighboring Ethiopia rolled into Mogadishu
promising peace, divisions over clan, politics and power
are stronger than ever. The chaos is allowing a deadly
Islamic insurgency to gain momentum in a region seen as a
key battleground in the war on terror.
«We stayed here in Mogadishu through all this fighting
because we thought things would calm down if the government
became powerful,» Asho Abdi Nor told The Associated Press
this week as she fled the city with her family. «But now
the Islamists are promising to redouble their attacks, and
we will be the victims.»
Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since
warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991,
then turned on each other. The current government was
formed in 2004, but has struggled to assert any real
control.
A radical Islamic group with ties to al-Qaida ruled the
capital and much of southern Somalia for six months last
year, until they were driven out in December when Ethiopia
_ the region's military powerhouse _ sent in troops.
Remnants of the group have launched an insurgency, vowing
to realize their dream of ruling Somalia according to the
Quran.
«A martyr like me should devote his precious life by
defending Islam,» an insurgent fighter, Abu Khalid, told
AP.
Human Rights Watch has accused all sides in the conflict
of war crimes, saying the battles target hospitals and
other medical facilities. The fighting has decimated the
capital, already one of the most violent and gun-infested
cities in the world. Thousands of civilians have been
killed since December, and a fifth of Mogadishu's 2 million
residents have fled.
Earlier this month, two prominent Somali journalists were
assassinated, one outside his office and the other as he
returned from his fallen colleague's funeral. The motives
are unknown in a city teeming with people desperate for
power.
Somalia's government spokesman acknowledges that violence
has increased in recent weeks, but said it's only because
«the terrorists are now using their last gasp to
survive.»
«What is happening now is a security operation, and it
will continue until security is fully restored,» he said.
But the government has announced before that it has crushed
the insurgency, only to watch it rise again.
A National Reconciliation Conference _ which also has been
the target of insurgents _ has been going on since July,
but organizers have announced no major breakthroughs. Much
of the stalemate is due to clan allegiances _ there are
dozens of clan factions in the capital, each making demands
on the government and each a potential spoiler.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf's Darood clan has little
or no presence in the capital, leaving him with no local
allies. The majority of Mogadishu residents are from a
rival clan, the Hawiye, which is itself riven with factions
whose warlords in the past divided up the capital among
themselves.
The Islamic group, meanwhile, has not even joined the
meeting and most of its leaders are in hiding.
«Powerful sub-clans are totally alienated from the
governance of the country, and have allied themselves with
the Islamists in order to undermine stability and take down
the transitional authority,» said John Prendergast, a
senior adviser with the International Crisis Group, which
monitors conflict zones.
The United States has repeatedly accused the Islamic group
of harboring international terrorists linked to al-Qaida
and allegedly responsible for the 1998 bombings of the U.S.
Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. America is concerned that
Somalia could be a breeding ground for terror, particularly
after the Islamists gained power briefly last year and
Osama bin Laden declared his support for them.


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