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Mogadishu residents delighted at the defeat of the warlords. (IOL picture)
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MOGADISHU — Ethiopia and the US are expected to
intervene militarily in Somalia especially after the Joint Islamic
Courts (JIC) fighters have seized full control of the capital
Mogadishu following four months of fighting with a US-backed warlord
alliance, well-placed sources told IslamOnline.net on Tuesday, June 6.
"Ethiopia has put its troops along the borders
with Somalia on maximum alert and might push them into its Horn of
Africa neighbor to stem further advances by the JIC fighters,"
said the sources, which spoke only on condition of anonymity.
The Ethiopian government will try everything in its
power to prevent the JIC fighters from capturing the strategic central
city of Jowhar, some 90 kilometers north of the capital, they added.
The JIC announced Monday, June 6, seizing control
of nearly all of the lawless capital and a key supply line for the
Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) on
its northern outskirts.
In a statement read over local radio stations, the
chairman of the city's Joint Islamic courts, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh
Ahmad, said 15 years of warlord control of Mogadishu was over and
urged residents to accept the new leadership.
"We are not against any group and will deal
with the outside world in a manner that takes the interests of our
country and people into account first," he said.
At least 347 people have been killed and more than
1,500 wounded, many of them civilians, in fierce battles between the
JIC fighters and the ARPCT since February.
The alliance was created in February with US
support in a bid to curb the growing influence of Mogadishu's 11
Islamic courts, accusing the JIC of harboring Al-Qaeda members.
The courts have repeatedly denied the charges and
denounced US funding of the ARCPT.
Strikes
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Fighters loyal to warlord Qanyare turned over about 25 machine-gun mounted pick-ups to the JIC fighters in Daynile. (IOL picture)
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The Somali sources are also expecting successive
American air strikes against the JIC fighters.
American warplanes have increasingly been flying
over Mogadishu at lower altitudes, they noted.
US Navy warships, which have been patrolling Somali
coasts since 2001, recently stepped up their activities, according to
witnesses and press reports.
The US, still nursing painful memories from its
disastrous intervention in Somalia 12 years ago, was quick to voice
concern about the situation in the Horn of Africa country.
"We don't want to see Somalia turn into a safe
haven for foreign terrorists. We're very concerned about that,"
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday, refusing to
comment directly on events in Mogadishu.
Congo Republic President Denis Sassou Nguesso said
Washington must not provide aid to warlords.
Sassou, current rotating head of the 53-nation
African Union, discussed with US President George W. Bush Monday
Somalia and how the US and other countries could do more to help end
the ongoing violence.
The interim government has accused the US of
fanning the flames of civil war by backing the warlords, not only
financially but also militarily.
Warm Reception
Residents of the Mogadishu's southern Daynile
neighborhood, where the ARPCT was based, gave the JIC fighters a warm
reception amid anti US slogans.
"I'm really happy with the new reality, which
put a full stop to months of bloody fighting that claimed the lives of
many of our loved ones," one local, Mokhtar Sheikh, told IOL.
"It is a victory from God to the Somalis, who
have been suffering for the past 15 years under the warlords," he
added.
Tribes chieftains have also welcomed the start of a
new era in Somalia.
"We urge each tribe nationwide to bid farewell
to alliance members in a peaceful manner," Sheikh Mohammad Ahmad,
a tribesman, said.
Tribesmen convinced warlord Mohamed Afrah Qanyare,
a founding ARPCT member who had served as national security minister
in the transitional government, to save face and leave the country for
Kenya when it became clear that he was losing grounds.
"We are delighted that Qanyare handed over his
weapon to our tribe," Mohammad Yuglo, from the tribe of Nugaal,
told IOL.
"We fully back this popular revolution, which
seeks to implement Shari`ah and topple the warlords."
Fighters loyal to Qanyare turned over about 25
machine-gun mounted pick-ups to the JIC fighters in Daynile Monday.
Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has sacked Qanyare
and three other ministers, all warlords, for involvement in the deadly
fighting.
